Family Duties
by Black Sun Upon An Icy Sky
Summary: Ichigo got dragged away by the Royal Army. When the theatre of war shifts to Soul Society and the Gotei 13 is already near defeat help arrives from unexpected sides - The Royal Army!/IchiRuki/
1. Torimodose! My right of succession!

**Family Duties**

"_**Yo. Long time no see, huh… Your Majesty.**_" Hollow Ichigo to Kurosaki Ichigo

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**A/N:** So I came up with this while thinking about the King and his Army. I mean, honestly, why hasn't the King already interfered the war? It's his kingdom after all!

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**A/N2:** Yare, yare… Shirosaki's quotes fit perfectly well into the storyline… I wonder why… *hinthint**raises eyebrows*

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**Ichi:** Torimodose! My right of succession!

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"_Ichigo?"_

"_Eh? Dad? What is it?"_

_His usually hyper father sighed tiredly: "Well, there's something I have to tell you, son…"_

Hueco Mundo…

"Are you sure we are able to open that damn Garganta?"

"Well, I hope that Kurotsuchi-taichō can manage it. Orherwise we're in even deeper shit than before."

"Thanks, Pineapple, I know that myself."

"Just shut the Hell up, Strawberry!"

"**Kurosaki Ichigo, please come with us."**

Everyone turned around at that cold voice.

The Shinigami's breath stopped in their tracks, the humans didn't really now what to do but what everyone's attention escaped at first was Ichigo's expression of pure horror.

Rukia was the first to notice since she stood right beside him and only because she heard him whisper in terror: "No… I was told I had still time…"

"Ichigo? What is the matter?"

His eyes looked at her for some seconds before he once again locked gazes with the woman leading the small group of Shinigami.

"Rukia… you should know who they are."

Ichigo himself stepped forward: "Why now? I was told I had some time left."

That statement silenced the crowd around him up.

Rukia was totally stupefied: "What? You KNEW they were coming?"

He didn't spare her a glance: "Sure I knew. I was told they would take me to the King's Realm as soon as the war is over. That's why I'm asking them why NOW."

"Who are they anyway?" Except for Ichigo and the three newly arrived Shinigami everyone turned around at Ishida.

It was Ichigo answering: "They are the 0th Division, the Cero Guard. They are the King's Army."

~*~

The woman once again began to speak: "I'm very sorry, Kurosaki Ichigo but because of the latest turn-out of the war we don't have the privilege of time. So, please, follow us."

"Wait… which turn-out?"

"Well, it seems… that Aizen Sōsuke has defeated the members of the Gotei 13 that were stationed in the Living World and is now on his way to Soul Society. So, please, follow us."

Ichigo's face became blank and emotionless matching his now cold and venomously voice: "You can't force me and you know that, Kirio."

"But we have to."

Without as much as a sign the two men she had brought with her shunpoed behind Ichigo and grabbed him by the upper arms. Said teen struggled – what a surprise.

"Let go off me! I know for sure you guys wouldn't do this if-!"

But before he could end his sentence he was already dragged through the gate leading for the King's Realm leaving his friends and the other Shinigami in silence.

That was until Inoue spoke out loud the thoughts of her human friends: "Kuchiki-san? What exactly did just happen?"

"Well, Inoue" Rukia's voice was shaking a bit: "Usually, when the Cero Guard contacts a Shinigami… that means… that they force said Shinigami… to become a member of said Division. That they dragged him away… means they will make him one of them… and that isn't a job you can quit… or decline."

~*~

"What was that supposed to mean, Kirio?! Are you guys freakin' nuts?!"

"Please, Kurosaki-sama! Calm down!"

"I won't, Kirio! You guys friggin' kidnapped me! _Me_! You guys are supposed to be my personal ARMY, not some assassins dragging me away! I told you I won't do this annoying crap until this war is over!"

"But-!"

"Don't 'but' me! I'm your King so shut the Hell up! That's an order! Geez, I agreed to do this and become the King after my demented father told me he couldn't because of Yuzu and Karin – what I understand – but I did this under the condition that the official crap will start _after_ the war! And that I would tell my friends about it! And not that they get a heart attack because the King's Army dragged me away! Now they'll think you recruited me! Great! Now we have the mess!"

"I know that and I'm really sorry about it but since Aizen's on his way we had to do it!"

"Why? Where's the difference? I could've killed him in Soul Society as well as in the Fake Karakura Town! Where's the difference, damn it?"

"The difference is that with his intruding in Soul Society he spat on your family's pride and that is nothing you should take without fighting back _for_ your family's pride. You have to fight him as the King, not as the former Ryoka, Kurosaki-sama. That is why you have to claim your birthright _now_.

"Your family keeps secrets and powers and your family is honorable and proud – especially when it comes to said honor, pride and their _origin_.

"Let me give you a good advice, Kurosaki-sama. Begin to be proud of your family and your title. You were born with _power_ and the right to _rule_. You are in no way like Aizen Sōsuke who tries to steel such a right that is engraved in your very being by your ancestors. Begin to fight for your right of succession. Begin to _claim_ that very right of yours to follow your ancestors to the throne."

Ichigo was quiet after her speech and then sighed. Without as much as a last look at her he went for what he knew were his personal rooms which she wasn't allowed to even _look_ at.

~*~

"So… Ichigo-kun is with the 0th Division now?"

"I'm afraid he is, Ukitake-taichō…"

"Well, then we'll have to fight Aizen without the Shinigami-daikō."

The white-haired and the black-haired Shinigami turned to look at Yamamoto whose wounds – liked those of the others – got healed by now. No one of them had enough strength left to defeat the traitors – everyone knew that – but they would at least put up a last fight before they would fall.

"With all respect but you know we will fall, Sōtaichō."

"I know that, Kuchiki, but we have to fight to the last."

"**Ah! Nice of you! A greeting committee!"**

All of them turned around to be met with Aizen Sōsuke and his fellow traitors along some Arrancar. He didn't have any Espada left but the lower Hollows would do the same effect to the weakened Gotei 13, he was sure of that.

"Gin? I remember you have a thing for killing little girls? How about the little Kuchiki? I'm sure she is as much of a matching target as little Hinamori-kun."

Without a word the fox-faced ex-Shinigami activated his Shikai. His sword became longer and longer and nobody saw him- or herself able to move. When the blade was only inches away from her face and about to stab her a high and clashing sound was heard and Rukia only saw a flash of black, deep red and bright orange before her savior was engulfed by a cloud of dust created by the meeting swords impact.

"_I will tell you guys that only once. If you bring Rukia to shed only one bit of her blood… I will kill you in the most cruelest way possible._"

All eyes became wide when the dust cleared and revealed Ichigo in his Bankai robes looking coldly at Ichimaru like he couldn't decide how to successfully torture him to death.

"Ichigo…?"

He turned to look at her and smiled reassuringly: "You alright?"

When she nodded he sighed in relief and looked back at Ichimaru: "You're lucky she isn't injured, otherwise… just say I would be more than cruel while killing you bastard."

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Well, I'm not really satisfied with this chapter… but I'm never satisfied and always hate what I've written…

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LOL, Ichigo quote Hitsu-chan XD

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R&R! Won't update till I got 10 Reviews!

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torimodose - claim


	2. himitsu no kazoku

**Family Duties 2**

"_**Ichigo, what's the difference between a king and his horse? I don't mean kiddy shit like "One's a person and one's an animal" or "One has two legs and one has four." If their form, ability and power were exactly the same, why is it that one becomes the king and controls the battle, while the other becomes the horse and carries the king?! There's only one answer. Instinct! In order for identical beings to get stronger and gain the power they need to become king, they must search for more battles and power! They thirst for battle, and live to mercilessly, crush, shred, and slice their enemies! Deep, deep within our body lies the honed instinct to kill, to slaughter! But you don't have that! You don't have those pure, base instincts! You fight with your brain. You try to defeat your enemies with logic! And it doesn't work! You're trying to cut them with a sheathed sword! That's why you're weaker than me, Ichigo!**_" Hollow Ichigo to Kurosaki Ichigo

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**A/N:** So here's chapter 2. Gosh, long quote, ne? Sorry because of that but you don't have to read it, right?

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**A/N2: **Thanks to all those who reviewed the last Chapter (because, really, I wouldn't have updated this if there weren't enough Reviews XD): Martynal, bcsaturdai, Aizen-sama1977, shloki, thmarth, Eradona, GhibliGirl91, Tamabonotchi, Javane, smooshedpumpkins, Mimi-ride-nationwide, DraGooNia! Next the Favorite Stories: Aizen-sama1977, bcsaturdai, Comet1234, shloki, DeathMeetsLife, derderxp, DraGooNia, smooshedpumpkins! Story Alerts! bcsaturdai, Eradona, KakashiSasukeInuyasha52891, shloki, SplitToInfinity, thmarth, Wizle, GhibliGirl91, Tamabonotchi, Thornspike!

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**Ni:** himitsu no kazoku

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_He turned to look at her and smiled reassuringly: "You alright?"_

_When she nodded he sighed in relief and looked back at Ichimaru: "You're lucky she isn't injured, otherwise… just say I would be more than cruel while killing you bastard."_

Without even saying something he released a Getsuga at the former Taichō throwing him back.

Ichigo was about to continue with the fight but stopped dead in his tracks when he heard the Sōtaichō clearing his throat. Straightening himself up he turned around to face the old Shinigami with a blank expression even topping Byakuya's: "Yes?"

"Answers," was all the old man said. Ichigo's left eye twitched but he kept himself quiet just staring back at the Taichō of the first division.

After about half a minute he sighed and turned around: "I don't have to follow your orders. To be more precise: I don't have to follow anyone's orders. I won't give you any answers if you try to boss me around like that."

You could hear the crickets at that statement of his. The Shinigami couldn't believe someone being suicidal enough to talk to Yamamoto this way, the humans were stunned by his expression and the evil guys were slightly amused by the thick air around their enemies. It wouldn't be surprising if they took out popcorn and watched the show.

Byakuya was the first to say something: "Know your place, Kurosaki. You can't just talk like that to-"

"SHUT THE HELL UP, _KUCHIKI_!"

_That_ did no one expect.

Byakuya raised an eyebrow: "What did you say, _kozo_?"

When Ichigo replied it sounded as if ice would fill his voice: "You heard me right, _Kuchiki_. The way you are talking to me is lacking of respect and I'm not allowing this," he turned his head and his eyes seemed cold and hard: "I'm the Spirit King and you should show me the appropriate amount of respect."

Nothing moved after that.

But a Kuchiki Byakuya remained a Kuchiki Byakuya.

"You have to be kidding me, _kozo_. What you just said is ridiculous."

"Oh? Is it? Well, then explain me some things, will you?"

"First. You saw the King's Guard drag me away from Hueco Mundo, am I right?"

"Yes."

"Well, then, he has something like the capability of remembering, I'm impressed," ignoring the death glare of Byakuya's he continued: "What exactly is the reason for the 0th division for taking a Shinigami away?"

"They force him or her to join them," replied Soi Fon this time.

"Right. But am I looking like a part of the King's Army?"

"That could be the effect of your Bankai," meant a bored looking Kurotsuchi Mayuri.

Ichigo sighed: "Let me rephrase that question. Would I be here without another member of the Royal Army if I was part of them?"

"Well, 'bably not." Ikkaku.

"Wow, and there I thought the whole fighting killed your 3 brain cells. So, next question. What was the last thing I said to Kirio before they dragged me away?"

"'You can't force me and you know that'," everyone – except for Ichigo and the still watching traitors – jerked their head around to look at a really confused and shocked Kuchiki Rukia.

"Right and how could I've said this when they were forcing me to become a member of them? I could've said this only under the condition that I'm standing over them and that's only the King himself, isn't it?"

"That were only indications, no proofs," meant Byakuya remaining as unimpressed as ever.

"You want proof? You get proof."

Ichigo raised his right hand above his head and flipped with his fingers. There was a deafening silence when around them appeared gates after gates with the Royal Seal on them.

When they opened about 20 members of the Cero Guard stepped out of each of them until around 100 of them stood there, surrounding them.

None of the new arrivers moved until Ichigo spoke into the silence: "Take them down," and after a short pause he added: "only the Arrancar."

In not even the blink of an eye blood splashed to the ground. At Aizen Ichigo said with the same icy voice from before: "It was your fault to come here with Arrancar. They are nothing compared to your Espada. Your arrogance is the only thing that you should fear, Aizen, because it is the reason… why you will fall. Your arrogance is the cause for all this… because you thought you could stomp on my families pride… without me fighting back."

~*~

"_Ichigo?"_

"_Eh? Dad? What is it?"_

_His usually hyper father sighed tiredly: "Well, there's something I have to tell you, son…"_

_There was a deafening quietness after his father had fell silent again and Ichigo stared at him in disbelieve: "You are kidding?" He knew the old man wasn't and sure enough his father shook his head no._

"_I'm afraid that isn't a joke."_

_Ichigo couldn't believe it._

"_Spirit King? Me? You got to be kidding me! I'm friggin' seventeen! Why don't you do it, goat-face? After all you got the proper education for this kind of stuff, not me!"_

"_As much as I would like to keep you away from all this, I can't. I failed first when you became a Shinigami and now I'm failing because I'm forcing you into this. But understand that I have to take care of Yuzu and Karin. And, I'm sure you will agree on this, I'm even worse than Aizen, am I not?" It was obvious he tried to lighten up the conversation._

"_Che, you would make an even worse King than Keigo! And – damn it – you know too well I'm worse than Aizen as well! How am I supposed to… to _rule_ that fucked up world of stiff bureaucrats? I beat the shit out of them and they still think they are better than me! Chikush__ō! You know I can't do this!"_

_His father kept looking at him and didn't reply until Ichigo sighed and turned towards his open window: "Deal. I'll do this godforsaken job under one condition."_

"_Would be?"_

"_I won't do this until the war is over _for real_ and I'll get a month after that to tell the others."_

_Isshin smiled: "Deal."_

~*~

'So much about this 'Deal',' Ichigo thought while glaring daggers at the brown-haired traitor.

Said man, however, smiled back cocky at the teen, his voice as indifferent as ever and his snake-like eyes sparkling with interest and mock at the same time: "There is nothing I fear, _King-sama_."

Ichigo smiled back but the icy and hateful expression never left his face: "Then I will teach you how to fear me, Aizen."

And in not even the blink of an eye both disappeared but the sound of meeting blades could be heard even miles away. The two were still there but their speed was beyond anyone's capability. There was a blur in the air and sparks flying every now and then but all in all their fight was only seen by the fighters themselves and only them. Because your eyes can only see what moves as fast as you yourself are capable to.

Tōsen Kaname unsheathed his sword and paced forward: "Who will face me?"

Byakuya sighed and took out his blade as well but didn't say anything. He kept his silence and stoic demeanor even as Tōsen's Bankai engulfed him.

Hitsugaya Tōshirō also took a few steps forward glaring at Ichimaru Gin with killing intent: "I still owe you death, Ichimaru."

The fox's grin became even wider as he looked in the icedragon's turquoise eyes: "Eh~? Can't remember."

"Well, I don't care if you remember or not."

And soon the third battle unfolded.

The rest of them just stood there mesmerized by the fights in front of them. Although they weren't able to make out what happened inside of Tōsen's Bankai they could still hear Aizen and Ichigo charging their blades at each other and caught an occasional glimpse of one of them and they could still see every second of Ichimaru's fight with the young prodigy.

A sudden sound of something ripping apart shook them out of their stupor. They turned to see the last bits of Tōsen's Bankai disappear and Kuchiki Byakuya towering above the corpse of the blind man. Thousands of little blades swirled around them before merging back together into former's sword.

"It was in veil, your attempt," he stated blankly before turning away with closed eyes and began walking back to the group as if nothing happened.

Meanwhile…

"Sōten ni zase, _Hyōrinmaru_!"

The sky immediately darkened and lightnings began to light up the clouds, tinting them grey. Thunder was heard and the water around Hitsugaya began to freeze due to his Zanpakutō's Release. The 10th Squad Taichō disappeared with Shunpō and reappeared right next to Ichimaru's left arm capturing the limb with the chain attached to his blades' hilt. The arm immediately froze.

"My, my… Déjà Vu," the fox stated.

It wasn't long after that that Hitsugaya was bleeding from his stomach and panting heavily due to the toll the wound was getting on him.

"_Heh." The ice broke and Ichimaru whirled around stabbing Tōshirō from behind: "Don't get cocky, lil' one."_

Ignoring the stinging pain in his abdomen Hitsugaya raised his sword, whispering: "Bankai… _Daiguren Hyōrinmaru_…"

And soon enough blood splashed onto the ground once again.

~*~

Gin's smile cracked, his façade turned into a pained expression as he breathed out a soundless scream of agony before he fell onto the bloody ground.

Hitsugaya breathed heavily, sealing his Zanpakutō. He took a step forward only to hiss in sudden pain. He doubled over and lost his footing in the air as he fell forward and towards the ground only to be caught by his Fukutaichō smiling at him with sad eyes. His eyes were only half open as he tried to focus on her.

"You did it, Taichō…"

"Yeah… I'm sorry."

"Don't have a reason to be."

Now the only one still fighting was Ichigo and regarding the sounds of meeting blades the fight wasn't going to end anytime soon…

~*~

When the two fighters finally came to a halt the large group of Shinigami and humans was shocked at what they saw.

Aizen had several wounds covering his whole body whilst Ichigo had only scratches and a large gash across his chest. None of them wanted to admit the weak feeling they felt coming from their legs. Instead they chose to glare daggers at the other.

"I'm still not fearing anything, brat."

Ichigo only stared at the brunette man, thinking and then finally coming to a conclusion.

"Let go of your sword and surrender, Aizen."

"Why should I?"

When Ichigo spoke up again his voice seemed to have doubled with a tone to it that sounded like its only purpose was to give orders and this – indeed – was its function, a special 'gift' the King – and only the King – had to force Shinigami under his will in case they disobeyed.

"**I said let go of your sword and surrender, Aizen, that's an order.**"

Aizen's body began to shake voluntary as he tried to convince his body to not listen what Ichigo had said but it was in veil. Slowly, one after another, his fingers began to lose their grip on Kyoka Suigetsu's hilt until the Zanpakutō fell to the ground with a clashing sound. And his body shook even more as his knees bent and he finally kneeled down in front of Ichigo, his head hold low and his eyes sparkling in anger and rancor.

Ichigo brought Zangetsu's blade up to Aizen's throat however did not cut it.

"I should kill you for intruding this world and insulting my family. But I won't. I don't want to stain my sword with more of your blood. You're not worth it."

Without him making a move two members of the Royal Guard appeared and began dragging the traitor away who didn't even made a move, still under the Royal's spell.

"Ichigo…"

Said teens gaze immediately shifted to the raven-haired woman but not showed any emotion whatsoever: "Kuchiki Rukia, don't you dare calling me by my given name ever again. As far as I'm concerned we aren't such a thing as friends, Shinigami."

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LOL, so I killed off the traitors except for Aizen… that's strange considering I hate him the most… well, there's still the Sōkyoku…

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Ichigo's last part was the best, I think, although his first sentence at Byakuya wasn't that bad either XD

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I'm not that good with describing action scenes so please forgive me I'm not really describing ANYTHING…

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R&R! No updates till 22 Reviews!

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himitsu no kazoku – a family's secrets

Chikushō! – Damn it!

Sōten ni zase – Sit Upon the Frozen Heavens; English dub: Reign over the Frosted Heavens

Hyōrinmaru – Ice Ring; Frozen Full Moon

Daiguren Hyōrinmaru – Great Crimson Lotus Ice Ring


	3. futan – shi no kyōfu – izai

**Family Duties 3**

"_**Rip off our skin, carve off our flesh, crush our bones, there, ingrained in our nerves, lies a refined KILLERINSTINCT, carved into us by the primal hierarchy.**_" Hollow Ichigo to Kurosaki Ichigo

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**A/N: ***glomps her Reviewer* GhibliGirl91, BadyGuz, Javane, bcsaturdai, mipku, Mimi-ride-nationwide (you actually realized why Ichigo acted this way in the last Chapter!), haeye, Allyieh, star133, Eradona! Favorite Story: BadyGuz, jokeRfRen, 3R1N14S, mipku, Allyieh! Story Alert: BadyGuz, AceZ-Shadow, Kari-chan17, Allyieh, Grimmjaw!

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**San:** futan – shi no kyōfu – izai

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"_Ichigo…"_

_Said teens gaze immediately shifted to the raven-haired woman but not showed any emotion whatsoever: "Kuchiki Rukia, don't you dare calling me by my given name ever again. As far as I'm concerned we aren't such a thing as friends, Shinigami."_

Rukia felt as if her heart got ripped apart. It fell in tiny pieces towards the ground leaving her standing dead in the spot. She searched in his eyes, searched for the slightest hint of a betrayal of his cold and harsh words but there was no such thing. His warm amber orbs had become a cold gold staring into her violet ones without any emotion.

He paced towards them but only managed two steps before his eyes widened and he grabbed for his throat as blood began to run from his mouth and down his chin. He began to tremble and fell down to his knees as the gash on his chest began to bleed him to death from inside. As he spoke his voice was wet from the red liquidity filling his lungs.

"In… Inoue… quick…"

The healer stood beside him in mere seconds already calling out for Shun'ō and Ayame building up her Sōten Kisshun. Ichigo lost consciousness shortly after her powers had begun to take effect.

~*~

"Ku-Kurosaki-san! I have to say you should stay in bed for at least a week!"

Ichigo shot _the_ Unohana Retsu a glare: "First: work on your lack of respect. Second: I'm leaving when I want to leave. Understood?"

Ichigo told _the_ Unohana Retsu to work on her 'lack of respect'. He had to be suicidal. Well, that's what the members of the 11th Division thought – which got (again) injured by battle – as they witnessed Kurosaki Ichigo rebel against the most scariest Taichō of Gotei 13.

It was the day after Ichigo'd defeated Aizen and the teen had begun to rebel against Unohana the moment he'd woken up.

The black-haired woman glared back with equal ice in her eyes before replying: "I can't force you to follow my advices, I can't tell you how you should act towards your friends, I know that. But I still think I should be able to do it."

"_Mala Suerte_, I guess. Now step aside."

The woman did as she was told. Which choice did she have?

~*~

The Taichō and Ichigo had been in the meeting hall 6 hours straight, no one exiting, no one entering the room.

The guys and – surprisingly – Isshin had been standing outside the 1st Division ever since the meeting had started and now became pretty nervous.

When the doors finally opened, Ichigo was the first to exist but didn't even spare them a glance. Instead he summoned a gate but turned around one more time: "Sōtaichō, I'll return next month to witness Aizen Sōsuke's execution. Until then I hope you will have found 3 Shinigami to replace the traitors. Until then."

With that Ichigo turned around and left to the King's Realm leaving everyone behind.

~*~

It was dark in Kurosaki Isshin's bedroom as he went for the window to draw the curtains shut. That was when his gaze fell upon the small photography of his deceased wife. The doctor sighed and took it in his gentle hands following the outline of her face with his right thumb.

"Oh, Masaki… tell me… will Ichigo be alright?"

No answer came…

~*~

It was like living in an apartment. His private chambers included a _very_ large bedroom, a walk-in closet (why he didn't know himself), a bathroom, a living room as large as the bedroom and a huge kitchen American-style.

Ichigo never felt more imprisoned in his entire life. And he never felt lonelier. Not even Zangetsu would talk to him ("As long as you keep this tsunami up I won't talk to you!") and his Inner Hollow wasn't any better ("Well, _**King**_, it's not my fault you pushed all your friends away when they wanted to help you, dumbass.").

The teenage King sighed and fell onto the way too large bed while sulking. He got very good in sulking since his dad had told him everything.

His eyes had this puppy dog expression* he got when he let all his emotional walls and barriers fall. There wouldn't be anyone seeing him in this vulnerable state anyway.

While laying flat on his stomach he grabbed one of the pillows and rested his head on it just starring into the darkness.

"_SHUT THE HELL UP, __**KUCHIKI**__!"_

_When Ichigo replied it sounded as if ice would fill his voice: "You heard me right, __**Kuchiki**__. The way you are talking to me is lacking of respect and I'm not allowing this," he turned his head and his eyes seemed cold and hard: "I'm the Spirit King and you should show me the appropriate amount of respect."_

"_I'm still not fearing anything, brat."_

_Ichigo only stared at the brunette man, thinking and then finally coming to a conclusion._

"_Let go of your sword and surrender, Aizen."_

"_Why should I?"_

_When Ichigo spoke up again his voice seemed to have doubled with a tone to it that sounded like its only purpose was to give orders and this – indeed – was its function, a special 'gift' the King – and only the King – had to force Shinigami under his will in case they disobeyed._

"_**I said let go of your sword and surrender, Aizen, that's an order.**__"_

_Aizen's body began to shake voluntary as he tried to convince his body to not listen what Ichigo had said but it was in veil. Slowly, one after another, his fingers began to lose their grip on Kyoka Suigetsu's hilt until the Zanpakutō fell to the ground with a clashing sound. And his body shook even more as his knees bent and he finally kneeled down in front of Ichigo, his head hold low and his eyes sparkling in anger and rancor._

_Ichigo brought Zangetsu's blade up to Aizen's throat however did not cut it._

"_I should kill you for intruding this world and insulting my family. But I won't. I don't want to stain my sword with more of your blood. You're not worth it."_

_Without him making a move two members of the Royal Guard appeared and began dragging the traitor away who didn't even made a move, still under the Royal's spell._

"_Ichigo…"_

_Said teens gaze immediately shifted to the raven-haired woman but not showed any emotion whatsoever: "Kuchiki Rukia, don't you dare calling me by my given name ever again. As far as I'm concerned we aren't such a thing as friends, Shinigami."_

"I was such an ass…" Ichigo buried his head in the soft fabric of his pillow and let out a shaky sigh.

'Rukia… I'm glad you survived…'

Not a sound was heard as salty tears began to run down his cheeks and dampened the pillow.

~*~

The morning air was moist and cold, the night still hung over everything like an aftertaste as Shinigami went for the Sōkyoku hill to witness the execution of Aizen Sōsuke.

Most had to look from afar whilst Taichō-class Shinigami, along the veterans and Ichigo had 'first-row-seats' and stood just mere feet away from the giant scaffold.

Aizen was already standing underneath the stand looking impassively at them all. Ichigo took some steps forward, glaring at the traitorous Shinigami.

"You said you fear nothing."

"Yeah, and that's the truth, Kurosaki."

Ichigo smiled humorless: "That's a lie. I will tell you your worst nightmare, Aizen. You're afraid of _Death_. That's why you tried to conquer _Heaven_. Because you thought… as Ruler of _Heaven_ you would be save from Death. And that, Aizen, was an illusion just as the prospect of your succeed."

With that Aizen got dragged upwards, towards the far end of the stand and just when the huge halberd got unsealed Ichigo turned around with closed eyes and walked away as Aizen's Konpaku got burned to nothing.

Rukia held her head low so she wouldn't meet his gaze. She was just too hurt by his former actions to meet his gaze _ever again_.

When she sensed him stopping in front of her she felt her heart cease beating. And quietly, so only she could hear, he whispered: "100 years, more I'm not asking for, Rukia."

Her head shot upwards but when their gazes met his eyes still hold the same golden and cold stare like before. Ichigo turned and walked through another gate without sparing her a glance.

Rukia kept starring at where Ichigo had disappeared and just jerked out of her stupor when she felt someone nudge her shoulder. She turned around to be met with yet another Kurosaki – senior this time.

"Rukia-chan… I wanted to give you this. I've the feeling you could put it to good use… I would like to talk more but I have to go back to Karakura so… please take good care of yourself, 'kay?"

With that the older Kurosaki had shunpoed away and when Rukia looked down at her opened hand… there laid a small and delicate key. It was silver and had a small, black sun at the end in which the Royal Seal was engraved. Her eyes became wide.

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Yeah, so, Rukia possesses the King's Key now XD And Ichigo actually said something without venom in his voice! And I finally killed off Aizen, hurray! No offense but I don't really like him…

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Next Chapter will need some time because I'll write 3 Chapters each time before updating those one after another :D So please bear with me and my cliffhanger :D And I'll try to make the Chapters longer^^

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*watch Fade to Black and you know which expression I mean!

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futan – burden

shi no kyōfu – fear of Death

izai - heritage

Shun'ō – Althea

Ayame – Iris

Sōten Kisshun – Twin Sacred Return Shield

mala suerte – bad luck


	4. I've missed you

**Family Duties 4**

"_**I'm not gonna have it, Ichigo. I don't know about Zangetsu, but I refuse to carry a king who's weaker than me and get to cut ribbons with him. If you're weaker than me, then I'll destroy you, and take the crown for myself.**_" Hollow Ichigo to Kurosaki Ichigo

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**A/N: **Sankyuu Reviewer! romancejunky, bcsaturdai, BadyGuz, Allyieh, star133, Hekka, GhibliGirl91, Javane! Favorite: bigjoshA, Hichigo Kurosaki (lol, one of the protagonists added this story, that is funny :D), Twilighteer1211, Javane! Story Alert: Hichigo Kurosaki (shouldn't you know what happens next, huh?), kasai panda, romancejunky!

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**A/N2:** Yeah, I just can't handle it to make you wait much longer with this cliffhanger I left you with in Chapter 3 so here you go!

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**Shi:** I've missed you…

* * *

_With that the older Kurosaki had shunpoed away and when Rukia looked down at her opened hand… there laid a small and delicate key. It was silver and had a small, black sun at the end in which the Royal Seal was engraved. Her eyes became wide._

~*~

Kuchiki Rukia lay on her bed and her eyes were glued on the little key in her right hand.

'So… that's what Aizen wanted to create, huh? Such a small thing…'

She turned herself around so she was now lying on her back. The petite woman extended her arm so she was looking at the key from a little distance. Her gaze focused itself on the black sun that was at the end of it. Her eyes darkened: 'Shit, even this little thing reminds me in Ichigo, crap.'

Why she hadn't used this little piece of crap the moment Isshin gave it to her? Simple.

Because she feared Ichigo's reaction.

Can anybody blame her for that?

"_I've the feeling you could put it to good use."_

'Did he mean I should just use this thing and show up in the King's Realm, glomping Ichigo and say 'Surprise'? No one would expect me to do this… at second thought… it's Isshin-san I'm talking about…'

She sighed: 'I guess he would put me up for the next execution if I show up…'

Closing her eyes she made her decision.

~*~

Ichigo sighed and stepped out of his shower, drying his hair with a towel.

"It's too freakin' quiet here. It's annoying…"

_**Well, King, I bet if Rukia-chan was here it would be a little bit noisier… maybe some moans here and there…**_

"Shut the Hell up, you pervert. You sure as Hell would be on good terms with Kon, Keigo and Mizuiro…"

_**My, my, the Spirit King shouldn't speak of little insects so familiar, ne? That was the reason you pushed them all away, ne? Because even you have rules to follow and they say you aren't allowed near them and if then you aren't allowed to be friendly with them, ne? Yare, yare, I changed my mind. I don't want to be King. It's annoying.**_

"Wow, we actually agree on something."

_**I wouldn't answer me aloud if I were you.**_

Ichigo was about to answer aloud _again_ when he sensed it.

'What the Hell? Someone's entering with the King's Key? But how? My old man has the only key and he can get here without it…'

He felt the gate materializing in his – ahem – bedroom and stormed in – however remembering to put on some clothes beforehand, which happened to be a black jeans and a dark blue button-up shirt. He was the King for heaven's sake; he could wear what he wanted to!

The second he entered his bedroom he froze. He recognized her petite frame at once and that moment only one thought cursed through his mind: 'I'm going to kill that old geezer!!!'

Somewhere in Karakura a former Shinigami sneezed.

~*~

'So that's the King's Realm? Looks more like an apartment in the Living World to me…'

Sensing a gaze on the back of her head she turned around to be met with fierce amber orbs. Yes, amber, not longer cold gold.

Rukia felt a blush creeping on her features when she realized _where_ exactly the gate had dropped her.

'Oh, Hell, why the bedroom?'

~*~

His first urge when he locked gazes with her was to embrace her as tightly as he could and to never let her go away.

The second was to shout at her like a maniac.

Third to kiss the living daylight out of her.

Fourth to – he had to say, it was his Hollow's suggestion and his Hollow's only! ("_**Yeah, as if…**_") – have his wicked ways with her 24/7 until she forgot her own name.

Fifth was to rip her into tiny pieces.

But he did nothing of it – much to Shirosaki's pity regarding the 4th and 5th option ("_**Would've meant some fun for me!**_") – and settled with just starring at her.

When she finally attempted to speak his heart quickened its speed upon hearing her voice again: "Ano… I'm sorry if I'm disrupting you in any way but you know… your Dad gave me this key and I just… gave it a try… and…"

Her mumbling was cut short when she felt Ichigo's arms encircling her petite form and his face buried itself in her raven tresses. Her eyes became wide.

When she tried to peel herself out of his embrace he growled and tightened his grip on her: "Try that one more time and I'll think about a punishment for you, Rukia. Please… just let me… do this for a while, okay? Because… I'm really sorry for how I acted towards you guys… but I don't have a choice…"

Rukia stopped moving but blushed deep red because… well, Ichigo failed to fully button up his shirt when he entered the room and… now her face was pressed against the skin of his chest… not that she was complaining!

Some awkward moments later…

"Uh… maybe we should go to the Living Room?"

"Y-yeah, maybe…"

~*~

The Living Room was a class for itself.

In the middle of the large chamber was the floor a little deeper and filled with cushions, the walls were lined with large shelves and one wall had Japanese double doors most likely leading towards a garden of some sort. Opposite these doors was a kitchen American style with a table so you could eat.

Rukia gapped: "Wow…"

The strawberry smiled: "I thought you are used to such things?"

"Well, but this looks much more comfortable than the Kuchiki manor…"

"Oh?"

Without expecting a reply he took her by her wrist and dragged her towards the middle of the room, making her sit down beside him.

Both sat there in silence until Ichigo broke it: "I assume you're curious why I acted like an ass towards you guys and now act like usual, right?"

"You can bet your sorry ass!"

He couldn't help but laugh at this: "You sure have guts but I knew this anyway."

"Huh?"

"I mean, I'm still your King, am I not? You know that I could put you up for execution, right?" Upon seeing her expression he waved his hands in front of him trying to calm her down: "Gosh, Rukia, don't take everything I say so serious! That was just a joke!"

She crossed her arms across her chest, pouting: "Che, seeing how you acted towards me it's just logically that I took you literally!"

Ichigo's eyes softened and he took his left hand letting it rest on her right cheek: "Yeah, sorry 'bout that, really but you see… I had to do so."

When Rukia blushed Ichigo did, too, and was quick in removing his hand: "Y-you know… even I have rules to follow… it's kind of like what your brother has to do. I have to act cold and emotionless towards people. It's what my title forces me to. I have to act like I don't care… like I'm not friends with the lot of you. It's my duty, a duty forced on me by my family's history and blood. It isn't easy for me as it's not easy for any of you. After I defeated Aizen… I wanted nothing more than hug you… and tell you," he struggled to get the words out of his mouth: "and wanted to tell you," he looked at her with molten amber orbs: "I wanted so badly to tell you how glad and relieved I was that you survived the whole mess."

He took in a deep breath to steady his voice: "However, as glad as I'm that you are here… I have to make you promise me that you won't tell _anyone_ what happened here… nor tell someone what caused my behavior, did I made myself clear?"

"Why? I'm sure they want to know! And they _deserve _to know! I don't have to follow your orders!"

Ichigo glared at her: "You seem to forget that you normally would _have_ to follow my every order, Rukia, I'm just kind enough to not force it on you like I did with Aizen! Or do you want me to deal with you like I did with this asshole? I didn't know you were such a masochist, pipsqueak."

"You… bakamono! Even if you used this stupid trick of yours I wouldn't follow your stupid order!"

Ichigo smiled smugly: "Reeeeaaaaly? Do you want to provoke a try, midget?"

She glared back: "Just give it a shot, idiot."

Amber pierced into violet and then he sighed in defeat: "I would but I just can't handle the thought of forcing you under my will in this manner. If I'm doing this against my believe then I'm erasing a part of my humanity with it and I won't take this cost just because of this stupid argument," he flashed her a grin: "as much as I love these quarrels."

"Coward."

Ichigo turned his back on her so she couldn't see a genuine smile cross his features, which then turned into a smirk as he yawned and stretched his arms over his head, leaning back so his head was resting in her lap like many times before: "I'm tired so I will let you have this one, pipsqueak. Now shut up so I can get some sleep, will ya, midget?"

Rukia blushed but Ichigo didn't care as he closed his eyes and soon his breathing had slowed down signaling he was fast asleep.

The raven-haired Shinigami began stroking through his orange tresses once she was sure he wasn't aware of what she did. What? His hair was unusually soft, so get lost!

When Ichigo stirred she immediately moved to retreat her hand but Ichigo was quick in catching her by her wrist without even opening one of his eyes: "No," he mumbled sleepy also it was clear he wasn't as asleep as she had assumed: "don't stop, that felt nice. It relaxes me… please, Rukia…"

Blushing she took her hand back to his hair and continued stroking bringing a content sigh out of him. The hand, which had caught her wrist wandered towards the small of her back, rested there a while before giving her the same treat as she was giving him.

Opening his eyes ever so slightly Ichigo smiled and whispered: "You know, Rukia? I've missed you…"

She couldn't help but smile as well: "I've missed you, too…"

"Glad to hear…" He sighed again before drifting into a comfortable sleep, his first since a very long time.

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So, it isn't much longer than the others and I guess the Chapters never will be, sorry guys but I'm just not able to write more than 5 pages T-T Also, I wanted to end the angst because I think it's not healthy to read too much of it :D

Why Rukia forgave him that quickly? Just look how they act and if you still don't get the hint then you're dumb, guys (no offense!)

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R&R?


	5. Royal Wrath

**Family Duties 5**

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"_**You're a pathetic fake, Ichigo.**_" Hollow Ichigo to Kurosaki Ichigo

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**A/N: **Arrigatō gozaimasu my Reviewer! I can't believe this is only the 5th Chapter and the Reviews already topped my other stories!!! romancejunky, Javane, Allyieh, bcsaturdai, GhibliGirl91 (yeah, he really should have), star133, mipku, Mimi-ride-nationwide, Aizen-sama1977, Konoha's White Fang! I love every single one of you!! Of course I'm also thanking the guys adding this to their Favorites (Javane, Martynal, mikelley10, Joshpaul99) and Story Alerts (Firemage1000, Mistress Meer, Konoha's White Fang)!! Hontō arrigatō!!

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**Itsu:** Royal Wrath

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"Ichigo… Ichigo… Ichigo! Wake up, goddamnit!!"

Her fist connected with the center of his chest and he jerked up, coughing. With anger blazing in his eyes he turned around to glare at her. He had enjoyed her caresses. Why the Hell did she have to wake him up? And then in such an unpleasant manner!

"WHAT?! I enjoyed that!" The moment that left his mouth he blushed and so did the little runt in front of him.

"W-well… I have to go back before N-nii-sama finds my room empty and since you slept in my lap… I couldn't stand up and leave. I tried to wake you up normally but you just kept on sleeping so I just hit you…"

The anger left Ichigo's eyes the moment he saw her *ahem* cute blush: "Oh, sorry I yelled that much."

"No, you don't have to apology – mainly because it disturbs me that you actually know how to say sorry, thou…"

That made Ichigo glare at her once more – but in a more playful manner than the last time: "You runty pipsqueak! I just never had to say sorry to you little twerp, that's all!"

"DON'T MAKE FUN OF MY HIGH, YOU ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN!"

Ichigo smirked evilly and attacked her sides. Soon Rukia lay on her back and laughed and giggled because he tickled her mercilessly: "Who are you calling an abominable snowman you runt? I'm not nearly as high as Renji, that featherbrained akahihi!"

"And still… gasp… are you the giant and he will keep on being a red pineapple-head!"

"Says who?"

"I'm saying this, bigfoot!"

"Oh? So now I'm the forest version of it? Nice!"

Rukia's voice failed her when Ichigo's hands went for her armpits and she could hardly breath through her giggling anymore.

After several minutes he stopped but didn't lift himself up from his position on top of her.

"Please stop calling me names, Rukia, will you?" His voice was neutral but their was a faint emotion in it Rukia couldn't quite clarify.

"Only if you stop insulting my height."

He smiled: "'Kay, but only because I hate being compared to a monkey."

"Which monkey do you mean? Bigfoot or Renji?"

He smirked: "Both."

All of a sudden Rukia's face became somewhat expressionless and Ichigo needed a couple of seconds before he actually noticed their faces proximity.

He didn't make a single sound when his face came closer to hers and Rukia only shut her eyes as response.

When their lips met something snapped in their minds. Rukia's hands immediately went for his hair and dragged his face closer to hers and his arms snaked around her waist while he pressed himself more against her. Both skipped the gentle first kiss. Instead Ichigo's tongue glided over her lips the very moment their lips made contact and soon their tongues were in an all-out war.

When Rukia's hands went for his shirt, however, his own hands caught her wrists and he broke contact with her mouth: "No, please, not now and not sometime in the near future."

Her eyes flashed with so much emotions that Ichigo couldn't keep track of them and he hurried to give her an explanation: "It's not because I don't want it, it's because we can't… now."

"What do you mean?"

"Already forgot my words after the execution?"

"No but I don't have a clue what you meant by that!"

"I have to be king for 100 years before I'm allowed to choose anyone _near_ the capability of being a wife."

Her eyes widened: "As if anyone would find out anything that happens in h-"

Ichigo sat up and let out an exasperated sigh: "You just don't get it. My family has certain abilities to rule Soul Society like the one I used against Aizen, remember?"

A nod.

"Well, it would be dangerous if the king's wife wouldn't have the same abilities like the rest of the family so there are certain things the king and his wife have to do in order for the wife to become truly the Soul Societies queen. There are different possibilities to do this. Either marriage, exchange of blood or… well, what we were going to do just now. That wouldn't be a real problem because… well, to be honest, I wouldn't mind having you by my side for all eternity, at least that would mean some fun… in many different ways," he added with an evil smile at which she blushed like mad and Ichigo only burst in laughter: "Hell, you should've seen your face, Rukia!"

SLAP!

"However," he continued while holding his cheek, which had Rukia's hand imprinted on it: "I'm only allowed to choose a bride after I ruled for 100 years."

"You could just overrule that order, or not?"

"Normally I could but this is not really a law but more a codex. And as stupid as I think this codex is, my mind is unfortunately bound to follow it. Like I said earlier, I have to do so and it's like a duty forced on me by my family's history and blood. I hate it but I can't erase something that's engraved in my very being like my instinct to seek a fight like my Hollow so fitting phrased it. That's why I asked you for 100 years. I know what I'm asking you for and I know what that means for you but… I-"

His speech was cut short by small lips crushing against his own.

"If it needs 100 years then be it," she whispered before she stood up and took out the King's Key. Ichigo didn't quite grasp that he was actually engaged until his Hollow shook him out of his trance some minutes after Rukia's departure.

And once again the white moon had stopped the rain.

~*~

"You guys plan on doing WHAT exactly?!!"

Ichigo's voice echoed throughout the Seireitei and reached even the 30th District of Rukongai.

Back in the Underground Assembly Hall was a very angry and outraged teenage King glaring at the new Central 46 totally ignoring the presence of his fellow Vaizādo, which where present because of the same 'crime' from years ago.

Flashback…

_The Central 46 was revived with its old power and meaning in the Soul Society but this time its final decisions had to be blessed by the King himself and he was present during every single one of their meetings._

_You could picture Ichigo's shock and wrath when his fellow Vaizādo had entered the Assembly Hall in bindings and their own shock when they saw Ichigo leading their whole tribunal._

_While they kept gawking at Ichigo in silent stupor one of the judges began to read out their 'crime'. He didn't manage more than 2 sentences before Ichigo lost his temper:_

"_What exactly is the meaning of this whole absurdity?!"_

_The members of the Central 46 were slightly taken aback but explained the whole situation nonetheless. When they'd finished and had even the nerve to propose their idea which punishment would fit Ichigo had already heard enough for his patience to run thin and finally snap._

Flashback End

One really brave – or rather stupid – wise man replied: "Well, like we said. We think the only fitting punishment for those traitor is an execution since they gained Hollow-like powers and this is against our l-"

"Don't come me with this trash! They not only helped us in the war but it wasn't even their fault to begin with, you imbeciles! If one of the existing Vaizādo consciously gained those powers then it's myself! Now let them go! And beg for your sorry lives that they forgive you! I know their fighting skills and they could easily kill anybody except me in this room!"

The same wise man from before – and now it was confirmed he was stupid – objected once more: "You are a completely different case, you have the royal blood to protect your mind but they are still able to become a threat!"

Ichigo's eyes blazed blue and murderous high Reiatsu came crushing down on every single one of them: "**SHUT THE HELL UP! I SAID LET THEM GO! AND IF ANOTHER ONE OF YOU OBJECTS AGAINST MY DECISION THEN I WILL TAKE THIS AS BETRAYAL AND WILL BEGIN ON PLANNING **_**YOUR**_** EXECUTION WITH THEM IN THE FIRST ROW!**" His doubled voice shook the present people to the core of their souls and none of them had the power left to object. Not that anyone could still move under the pressure his Reiatsu was executing on them. It had been high before but with his true powers and abilities now awakened his Reiatsu had doubled tenfold and nearly crushed anybody present.

After that little experience it wasn't surprising that every single member of Central 46 was apologizing to them in manners that clearly said 'I'm frightened to the guts' and Shinji and Co. smiled smugly as the images of just now flew through their minds.

Ichigo was already gone and he was sure whom he was going to yell at next.

~*~

Yamamoto feared few and it sure as Hell shouldn't be a young King in the middle of puberty. But there is a first for everything.

They had just begun with the usual Captain's meeting when Ichigo's pissed-off Reiatsu had crushed on them all and made few of them gasp in surprise.

"Your time is up guys!"

Ichigo now stood in midst the assembled Captains and looked like he was ready to kill.

"I'm here because all of you are beginning to piss me off so I would advice you to keep those holes under your noses shut and listen carefully."

His first victim – ahem – point of attention happened to be Zaraki Kenpachi, lucky guy.

"First of. You keep on babbling that no one lives long enough to put up a real fight with you but when one happens to satisfy your criteria of a good fighter you still intend on killing them! Are you rally that stupid, man?! If someone puts up a good fight let them live, let them become stronger and fight them _again_ instead of fight them, have Hell of a good fight and kill them! That will make your life a lot more fun, trust me!"

Next one to hit the floor was Byakuya.

"And _**you**_ are the one person I would love to kill the most, you know that? All the time you are acting like you are better than anyone but shall I tell you something? You. Are. Not. I know Arrancar who are way better individuals than you, Mr. High-and-Mighty Kuchiki Byakuya! You should stop being such an arrogant asshole á la Aizen, drop that attitude of yours and face reality! You are a normal person who happens to have too much money and ego! Stop acting like you don't care! Because I know you care more than most of us! And you know another thing? I would kill you right here and now but I won't simply because your sister would never ever look at me again if I did. I can't understand why she cares so much about you but I respect it and that's the only thing that keeps you alive, Byakuya."

His next glare was meant for Mayuri but Ichigo didn't say something at first but flipped with his fingers. 2 members of his guard appeared and hold him in place.

"Kurotsuchi Mayuri, you are taken into custody because of the suspicion that you murdered several people from your Division as well as multiple Quincy like Ishida Sōken plus inhumanly experiments. Next month will a tribunal in front of the Central 46 been held."

Ichigo didn't wait until Kurotsuchi was finally dragged away but continued like nothing happened.

"Yamamoto-sōtaichō, I've decided to promote Urahara Kisuke to be the new Captain of the 12th Division. Soi Fon-taichō will become the Fukutaichō of Squad 2 while Shihōin Yoruichi becomes said Division's Taichō. Any complains?"

It wasn't surprising that no one had any objections and so Yamamoto was the next one to become a victim of the young King's wrath.

"Next comes you, you old geezer. You don't have the slightest clue how pissed off I'm of you. Your methods are old-fashioned and so you will gladly forgive me when I'm going to displace you right here and now. I don't care what you'll do now but if you want to hear my opinion just die already. Go and resolve into dust somewhere for all I care. Ukitake-taichō, you will become the next Sōtaichō. Next to come are the empty spots in each Division. Squad 13's Fukutaichō will become Kuchiki Rukia and if you have any objections, Mr. High-and-Mighty, keep them for yourself and don't bother me with them because they are most likely bullshit. Taichō will be Abarai Renji whilst 5th Division will be Hirako Shinji, 3rd will become Madarame Ikkaku and 9th is going to be Muguruma Kensei. All the other Vaizādo will fill seated positions in the Divisions they want, I don't care where.

"Now some final words. All of you guys should begin to drop their attitudes! I can't believe that it took my coronation for all of you to finally respect me! When I invaded the Seireitei I kicked half of the asses assembled here and you all still thought you were better than me because I'm human! I got rid of everything that threatened you! Kariya, Amagai, Aizen, Shizuku and Homura, Ganryū, Muramasa and Baishin! And never did I get any real thanks from any of you! You didn't even respect me! No! I was still just the insolent human Shinigami-daikō who kills all your enemies, takes the casualty of giving up his normal life and gets scars all over his body that will always remind me that I gave up _my_ human life for the sake of stupid bureaucrats which didn't even acknowledged the fact I helped them! I can't believe you! In what fucked-up reality are you living, people?!"

After he finished his speech of fury his breath came in raged huffs and all the Captains stared at him like they couldn't believe someone was able to such an outburst.

Without giving them another glance Ichigo turned around and left the Meeting leaving them with dropped jaws.

~*~

Ichigo found Rukia sparring with Renji and all his friends were watching. They were back for the party Matsumoto wanted to hold to celebrate the end of the war since now finally everybody was healed and was able to drink until oblivion.

Ichigo didn't care to explain anything nor did he really care that all his friends were gaping at him – after all they could feel his royal wrath quite clearly – all he was focused on was Rukia who seemed quite nervous of what he was doing there.

He stopped in front of her and took a deep breath: "I thought about what you said yesterday and I think you are right. I decided to just tell the part of my brain that keeps on yelling at me what to do to shut the freaking Hell up and let me be."

"Means?"

At that point Ichigo smiled and told her in a smugly voice: "Means you don't have to wait for 100 years to come by and you will have to deal with my crazy dad and his babbling about grandchildren because you are now officially the King's fiancée."

Before any of his friends was able to ask a single question Rukia had jumped Ichigo who landed flat on his back and had a crazy midget on top kissing him insane – not that he complained.

From some distance away Isshin was watching the whole incident and couldn't help but smile: "So he really has his stubbornness from you, huh, Masaki?"

"_**Che, the King is really pathetic to let that little pipsqueak being on top.**_"

Isshin turned around to be met with Shirosaki leaning against a nearby tree. He raised an eyebrow: "So you are his Hollow? How comes you're out here?"

The Hollow in question just made a face that was bored and disgusted at the same time while jerking his head in Ichigo's direction: "_**He wanted me out of his head for this little scene over there and allowed me to walk around a bit.**_"

"Wow, he can do that? None of the other Vaiz-"

"_**Because they can't. He got me in another way than those imbeciles and because of that I'm part of his Zanpakutō. Therefore he can summon me just like Zangetsu.**_"

"Nice."

"_**If he actually would do this more often it would be Hell of a lot nicer, really. It's not as if I would break a havoc while being here**_," said Shirosaki while shrugging and closing his eyes.

"It's hard to believe that."

"_**But it's true. He's the King and I have to acknowledge that fact. And since he got his Queen I won't ever be able to overthrow him. I give up.**_"

With that the white doppelganger of Ichigo disappeared and Isshin was once again alone.

'Ichigo… I think you have more friends than you want to realize…'

* * *

Well, yeah, I changed the Ending I had planned out… crap, would've been cool… however, I asked my – and now please don't laugh your ass off – mother what I should do: 2 Chapter in which Rukia waits 100 years for Ichigo and their marriage after those decades or 2 Chapter where Ichigo gets all pissed off and their marriage. So, yeah, she doesn't like the prospect of a girl like Rukia waiting for a beggar so I just let Ichigo wreak his wrath on Central 46 and Gotei 13 XD Well, yeah, so in the next Chapter will be a Happy End with marriage and apologies XD

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akahihi – as much as 'red baboon' (I liked the Japanese sound of it :D)


	6. AN

Just re-read my little babbling at the end of the previous chapter XD  
And it seems like couple of you took it the way that the next Chapter was going to be the end - in fact, it was meant this way, but, yeah, some Reviewer wanted this story to continue some longer so I'll do just that XD Be happy and party a bit because you got your will, guys!

What I've planned so far (these are meant as previews and aren't featuring the titles):  
Chapter 6: PARTY at Matsumoto's!  
Chapter 7: Wedding, Hot Nights and Pregnancy Tests XD  
Chapter 8: Time Travel  
Chapter 9: Begin of new Arc

The authoress is accepting the inevitable V.V  
Not that I'm complaining, I have Hell fun with this story XD

Greetings!  
**Black Sun Upon An Icy Sky **


	7. Royalty? More like royal pain in the ass

**Family Duties 6**

"_**Who am I? I ain't got no name.**_" Hollow Ichigo to Kuchiki Byakuya

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**A/N:** Reviewer, Favorite Stories and Alerts! Everywhere! I love you so much, folks! Reviewer: bcsaturdai, Martynal, xwhitemoonx, GhibliGirl91, KH 777, romancejunky, Allyieh, star133, BioHazard82, BadyGuz! Favorite: BioHazard82, Ember Hinote, eraserx231, Thunder Claw03, TwistedDemonsInsideMe, xwhitemoonx! Alert: BioHazard82, KaikenCollison, KH 777, KuroiTsuki7, SilverStella! If I could I would visit every single one of you and hug you!!!

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**Mu:** Royalty? More like royal pain in the ass!

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To say they were dumbfounded would be a royal understatement. Shocked to their core, now that fits a lot better.

First their best friend was a major ass towards them, treading them like trash. Then he comes up and talks about Rukia being his fiancée and then said petite woman jumps him and kisses him like a crazy fangirl. What the bloody Hell?

"Uhm, guys, I don't want to disrupt your foreplay but WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!"

The two engaged Shinigami broke apart and looked at them as if they just realized they weren't alone.

"Uh," was all our strawberry was able to get out of his mouth. Smart.

The akahihi had enough. 'I don't care if he's the King of Soul Society or McDonald's! He has to answer some of our questions if he wants to or not!' With that thought in mind he grabbed the stunned teen by his collar and brought their faces near.

"Explain yourself already, dandelion-head!"

Out of instinct Ichigo's expression became a cold mask of royalty, not even his eyes showing an emotion whatsoever. Grabbing for Renji's wrist he hold said Shinigami in an iron grip forcing him to release his robes.

"Mind to ask nicer, _pineapple_? If you repeat your 'order' a little bit more like a request I might be more eager to answer and explain my behavior."

[insert sound of a desert wind from an old western movie]

Renji didn't reply and instead chose to glare daggers at the teenage King who stared back with equal anger.

"Ano… what about we all just sit down and-"

"Shut up, Inoue," both men shouted at the healer without breaking their death glaring.

Ichigo sighed after what seemed like hours: "I really hoped you wouldn't ask, guys."

"How could we NOT ask? You were a complete ASS!"

"LIKE I WANTED TO!"

His yell let all of them cringe and Ichigo's eyes widen when his mind caught up. Mumbling "Sorry" he sat down on the grass, pulled up his knees, rested his arms on them and looked away and into the distance.

Rukia sat down next to him, worried: "What crept up your behind, moron? It's not like you to loose your temper that bad."

The strawberry sighed: "Central 46 wanted to execute Shinji and the others. That pissed me off a great deal and after that I went ballistic at the Captains. The whole day was just a freaking mess."

"Aw, my little strawberry had a hard day at work."

Ichigo glared at her: "We had a deal to not call each other names anymore."

"You never said something about nicknames for my fiancé."

"Bitch."

"Thanks… moron."

"Ahem, hello? We are still here!"

"Yeah, so what," both said in unison.

[glares]

Ichigo sighed: "Sit down and I'll tell you everything…"

[put in an explanation for everything, which I'm a way too lazy bitch for to write it down]

Ichigo threw a sideways glance at Rukia, she did vice versa and both reverted their gazes back at their friends. They looked quite dumbfounded at the fact that Ichigo actually _apologized_ to them 10 times while explaining. To get such thing out of the stubborn mule was an art itself.

"So," began Ishida while pushing his glasses up his nose: "There is this kind of 'codex' that's engraved in your brain by your ancestors…"

A nod.

"And it says you aren't allowed to have a beyond-work relationship to anybody besides your family."

A nod.

"This rule is none-existent as long as you are in the King's realm."

Nod.

"You have to reign for 100 years until you are allowed to marry someone or at least have a girlfriend…"

Nod.

"Kuchiki-san came to the King's realm with the King's key she received from your father and after you two had some kind of talk you decided to screw this 'codex' and just do what you want to, correct?"

"Yeah."

"After you made this decision you went to the Central 46 and planned on talk them down especially after they wanted to execute Hirako-san and the others…"

"Is that so surprising? Those idiots think they-"

"AND then you stormed a Captain's Meeting and let them hit the floor while re-arranging half the seats."

"That's pretty much it. Oh, and if you cut me off while I'm speaking one more time then I'll throw you in a dungeon."

"As if you even have a dungeon."

"I'll let them build one, just for you Quincy-boy."

Ishida turned at Rukia: "He wouldn't do that, would he?"

"He would do it, trust me."

Renji put a hand on Uryu's shoulder: "Don't worry, I'll visit you."

"Please, don't!"

They all failed to notice Inoue's downcast gaze as the sentence "You are now officially the King's fiancée" sunk in. Her heart shattered into millions of tiny pieces as realization dawned on her.

'I really… never had a chance…'

All thoughts were interrupted when a twisted voice was heard.

"_**Oi, King. I'm bored. How 'bout some sparing?**_"

While everyone gaped at the new arriver Ichigo merely looked at his inner Hollow blankly: "I don't have the nerves today. Just walk around a bit and leave me alone."

Shirosaki stared back with the same blank expression: "_**I said I was bored, didn't I? Just let us have some fun, King, this place is so fucked-up annoying. Plus, it makes me hungry.**_"

Ichigo's eyes widened. When his inner Hollow became hungry, that couldn't mean any good. Crap.

"Uh… Ichigo? Who is that creepy twin of yours?"

Ichigo made a face that clearly said "You didn't mean that seriously, did you?" and stared at Renji in utter disbelieve.

'He isn't that stupid, is he?'

"_**You are really that stupid, right, pineapple? And who the Hell are you calling 'creepy' tattoo-brow?**_"

"For once I have to agree with him. That question was absurd, akahihi."

Renji's face brought his hair to shame.

Ichigo sighed and stood up. Positioning himself right beside his inner Hollow and crossing his arms in front of his chest just like his doppelganger he said with a voice full of disbelieve: "Seriously, you are an imbecile. He is my inner Hollow. What did you think? My albino twin who was kidnapped as baby? Look at his eyes and you will see your stupidity!"

Following his advice not only Renji but everyone else looked at the white teen's eyes and recognized Ichigo's Hollow orbs. To say they felt stupid was an understatement.

Ichigo buried his face in his right hand: "I have morons as friends."

"_**Che, not that I care. But – please – let us do something fun. This place is annoying the crap out of me!**_"

The orange-head sighed: "You won't shut up until we fight, right?"

"_**Pretty much.**_"

"Then let us-"

Shinji and fanclub chose that moment to arrive.

"We sensed Ichigo's Hollow and…"

Shinji trailed off when he was met with not one but two Kurosaki Ichigo… well, sort of.

"…"

"…"

"What the Hell is your Hollow doing outside your soul, Ichigo?!"

Ichigo looked a little bit befuddled at that question: "Eh? I just… summoned him? What is the big deal 'bout it? He's part of Zangetsu so I just-"

"He is WHAT?!!"

Ichigo was taken aback while his Hollow just turned back to 'their' friends, mainly focusing on Rukia. Hey, she was Ichi's future wife, so he could have fun with her as well, right?

As if reading his (perverted) mind Rukia threw him a glare: "Don't even think about it."

Smiling, he just raised his hand in a mocking stance of surrender: "Got it, got it, you're a scary bitch."

Rukia narrowed her eyes but then an evil smile grazed her features: "Say… does Ichigo feel your pain?"

"No…"

"Not a good answer… for you," with that she kicked Shirosaki in his *ahem* lower regions.

Doubling over he hissed through gritted teeth: "Bitch…"

"Thanks."

Back with Ichigo and the other Vaizādo…

"Like I said, my Hollow his a part of Zangetsu so I can summon him just like my sword… is that a problem?"

Shinji looked troubled with this fact but shrugged it off: "No, I'm sure it isn't. 'S just that we can't do that."

Ichigo raised his eyebrows: "Really? Wow, that's surprising. I thought it wasn't that big of a deal…"

"Oi, Ichigo! I think your Hollow is pretty much damaged for eternity!"

Turning back he was met with a pretty disturbing image of his Hollow doubling over and holding onto his lower regions. Ichigo raised an eyebrow: "Whoever did that gets a truck load of money. I tried that for months on end!"

Ignoring his Hollow's curses he walked back to them after waving good-bye to the Vaizādo.

He slung his arms around Rukia's waist from behind and looked at his Hollow: "I should probably make him disappear."

The group nodded in unison.

Some minutes later they were walking aimlessly through Seireitei's streets and trying to ignore the weird glances from passers by.

Inoue had pretty much regained her cheery composure – not that anyone had noticed it was absent for a while – and was now babbling about stuff no one really paid attention to until…

"… Oh, and then there's Rangiku-san's party tonig-"

They hurried to shut her mouth with their hands but too late. Ichigo had caught her babbling and looked at his friends with a very confused expression: "Eh, guys? Why are you shutting Inoue up like that? And what's with that party anyways?"

They looked at each other with uneasy expressions and slowly loosened their hold on Inoue's face who looked quite guilty: "Gome, guys, I forgot I shouldn't tell him."

Again her mouth was forcefully closed but again their reflexes weren't quick enough.

Ichigo frowned: "You can stop choking Inoue, guys. Just tell me why you don't want me to know about this party?"

"Ichigo… you see…"

~*~

"WHAT?!"

They twitched at his shout while the Shinigami nearby hurried to get away.

"Y-yeah, originally this was meant as party to celebrate the end of the war but when you became such an ass she decided to hold a speech at the party about your 'betrayal'. She didn't want anyone to hear about it but when she was drunk – again – she told me."

They waited for an outburst – that never came. To their relieve – or horror? – began Ichigo to _smile_ in a creepy way that put Ichimaru to shame and he threw his arms over Renji's and Rukia's shoulders while signaling them to continue their walk.

"You aren't mad?"

"Oh, I'm mad, I guess mad isn't even fitting. But instead of killing her, I'll just come to the party and tell her my humble opinion concerning this matter."

That ain't good…

That night at Matsumoto's…

"Ichigo, aren't we a little bit late?"

"A little bit? Rukia, the party started half an hour ago!"

"Don't worry guys. We will be just in time, trust me."

Renji and Rukia threw each other worried glances whilst Ishida and Inoue talked about sewing and cooking. Chad looked as indifferent as ever.

Finally they made it to the double doors that led to the training halls of the 10th Division.

'How the heck did she convince Toshiro to this,' wondered Ichigo briefly but shrugged it off. Not even that shorty was such a big kill-joy.

Loud music and laughter could be heard from the inside and Rukia was about to open the doors when Ichigo caught her wrist and put his finger to his lips signaling her to be quiet.

"Why," mouthed she.

Ichigo just smiled and showed her 3 fingers. Slowly he counted down and when his thumb was down-

"Okay, guys! Please be quiet for a sec, will ya?"

They stared at Ichigo like he had grown two heads. The strawberry only smiled and continued eavesdropping.

"… was meant as a celebration because we've finally ended that stupid war against that arrogant asshole Aizen! But since one of us lately discovered a similar case of megalomania I thought I started a little rant!"

Ichigo looked as if he was just bitch slapped: "That woman didn't compare me to Aizen just now, did she?"

They couldn't answer since Rangiku continued her speech… her rant.

"Our _lovely_ Shinigami-daiko Kurosaki Ichigo disappeared from Hueco Mundo and when he came back he acted like an ass just because he was the Spirit King. I talked with his friends and even they were pretty pissed off from his behavior. I could see in Rukia-chan's eyes that she wanted to cry, honestly. And the others? Well, I could imagine that Quincy to go berserk on Berry-tan, that for sure!"

Ichigo felt a sting in his heart at these words and didn't even want to look his friends in the eye.

"First he dives in to the rescue and acts like the prince in shining armor. After he defeated Aizen he was a nasty sod with massive ego. Did Aizen's behavior rub off on the strawberry or what? He may be the King but that is no excuse to act like we are trash!"

That was accompanied by approvingly murmur and Ichigo's hand twitched like he had to hold back so he wouldn't burst in.

"I mean, it isn't as if we haven't done anything! We fought in this war and put our lives on the line and he-!"

Ichigo had finally enough. He swung the shoji doors open in one swift motion and everyone was quiet.

"Done with your rant, Rangiku-san?"

Matsumoto gulped when she saw the cold glare he was giving her and she was more than just a little bit uneasy with the fact that he presented an even more emotionless expression than the 6th Squad Taicho.

Then she spotted the others behind him and her icy blue orbs flashed with anger: "YOU! I trusted you to keep quiet about all this!"

Rukia wanted to step forward and say something but Ichigo's left arm stopped her movement. She looked up at him but he only shook his head without regarding her with his gaze.

That put Matsumoto over the edge.

"Who do you think you are, strawberry-head? If Rukia-chan wants to say something then you of all people have no right to stop her!"

Ichigo didn't even flinch: "First of all I'm your King, so at least pretend to respect me. And second. Is it that wrong of me to protect my fiancée from you? I doubt it."

Several jaws dropped at this.

"Fian-what?"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow: "Oh? I thought you of all people should be familiar with such terms. Well, then, I will tell you in very simple words what I just said, Rangiku-san. Rukia. And. I. Are. Going. To. Getting. Married. Got that?"

"I got it the first time! I just want an explanation!"

Ichigo looked over his shoulder: "Can one of you guys do that? Once a day is enough for me, isn't it?"

Renji sighed: "'Kay, listen everyone, I'm only going to say this once!"

[insert an explanation again]

The room was quiet after that.

Matsumoto looked pretty embarrassed because of her 'rant' and apologized to Ichigo who shrugged it off: "It's not as if you didn't say the truth. It's okay, I don't mind."

After that the party continued although a bit less lighthearted since some people were still a bit shocked that the Spirit King was present. That changed as soon as the first sake was handed out and most thinking abilities were cut short.

A completely jagged Renji forced Ichigo and Rukia to each drink a whole sake bottle and after that they were pretty wasted themselves. Not to the point where they were making out to an insane amount but still so much that they didn't care if anyone saw them.

Ichigo sat outside with Rukia in his lap and both stared out into the distance.

"The night is beautiful…"

"I know something or rather someone more beautiful."

"Sweet-talker."

Ichigo didn't reply but settled with kissing her. His arms snaked around her waist, hers around his neck in return. His right hand was about to sneak inside her yukata when a messenger of the Royal Guard appeared seemingly out of thin air, startling them both.

"The Hell? Ever heard of a day off?"

The Shinigami blushed but replied: "W-well, you are supposed to-to join the Central 46 in a… a meeting because a former Espada… invaded the Seireitei and-"

Ichigo was instantly sober: "Espada? Which one?"

"S-sexta…"

"Damn, this idiot. I told him he should just stay in Hueco Mundo."

"Ichigo…?"

"Sorry, princess," he said whilst pecking her on her right temple and carefully lifting her off his lap: "I'll be back as soon as possibly. If I'm not back until midnight then wait in my rooms up there for me, 'kay? Love ya."

With that he was away in the night.

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Wow, I managed a pretty long Chapter for a change XD 9 pages, new record XD

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Fyi, a kiss on the temple can mean 'Be Careful' in the language of love… well, at least that is what I read XD I'm using the 'Rules of Love' in my profile (which, fyi, I didn't think out myself but copied from a friend XD)

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R&R because that makes me happy XD


	8. The Black Sun's Happiness

**Family Duties, Part 7**

"_**We are all born dead. The end exists before anything begins...To continue to live is to continue to learn...of death...Therefore, death is the complete understanding of the end. Those who cannot transcend death, will never learn anything...of the end.**_" Hollow Ichigo

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**A/N:** Hello people! Missed me? I hope so! I want to thank my Reviewer, like always: BioHazard82, bcsaturdai, GhibliGirl91, KH 777, Javane, star133, PaperBagGhost, Elizabeth Hawkeye Mustang, hitsugayatoshirou1220, xwhitemoonx, Thunder Claw03, romancejunky, Aizen-sama1977, Tango Dancer, Azraelean, An Origami Fish, Pieps XD! OMFG!! I can't believe so much people reviewed! I'm about to faint, seriously XD Now the Favorite Story: joshnaruto, SoulDefender, Tango Dancer, DayDreamer-BleachLover, Pieps XD, zeroblood! And last but not least the Story Alerts: Dragonsmaiden66, fuzzibunniez, PaperBagGhost, Tango Dancer, An Origami Fish, HikariNoTenshi-San, Pieps XD, zeroblood! Thanks, folks!

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**A/N2:** You hopefully noticed that the Rating changed to M. That has a reason: This one will include LEMON. I never planned to include this into the story but – oh, well – I'm never doing what I planned originally. I'm well aware of the fact that this might cost me some Reviewer but there's nothing I can do about it. It's my first try on smut so please be mercifully.

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**Shichi:** The Black Sun's Happiness

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The young man walked down the cold, dark hallway consisting of raw stone. He didn't need any light seeing he could easily detect the Espada's flaring Reiatsu. The kitty was irritated and Ichigo couldn't say he didn't understand that. Central 46 was a real pain but Ichigo wouldn't allow a single person to rule the business of Soul Society alone again. He was the Spirit King but that didn't mean he _ruled_ Soul Society. He made sure they didn't screw up, played babysitter for a world full of adults. Not the best job in the world.

The Hollow hadn't noticed the young king yet and Ichigo couldn't help a smirk creeping on his features.

'I have to give Kirio a boost in pay for helping me with my Reiatsu control, really. I never thought it would be funny to sneak up on people and scare the shit outta them, hehe.'

The teal-haired man had his back on the strawberry and so Ichigo just did something he died to do for a long time. He took a deep breath and-

"IS THE KITTY SUICIDAL TO INVADE SEIREITEI ON ITS OWN, OR WHAT?!"

"AIKS!" Said kitty jumped, hit his head at the low ceiling and fell back on the hard ground making a loud 'thump' sound.

Ichigo couldn't help it. He fell backwards on his butt and started laughing his head off whilst Grimmjow recovered from his shock and glared at the teen.

"Shut up!"

The King's laughter went on for another 3 minutes until it slowly died down and he stood back up dusting of the pants of his royal Shihakusho. That was also the first time the Espada noticed Ichigo's new attire.

"'The Hell are ya wearing, strawberry?"

"What? You came here without knowing the identity of the Spirit King? That's foolish."

Grimmjow snorted: "Arrogant ass."

"Thanks."

There was a brief silence until Ichigo spoke up again: "The Central 46 planned on killing you."

Another snort: "They're welcome to try."

"I said 'planned'. I told them to back the Hell off and let you have your freedom. They had no other option then follow my order… I mean _request_."

"How comes you are so generous 'Haõ-sama'?"

Ichigo's expression became serious wit a hint of mock in his eyes: "I know you're here for a reason. What happened this time? Trouble with your girlfriend? I can't imagine Nell being so troublesome."

The catlike Arrancar blushed: "You have no idea how crazy a pregnant Arrancarwoman is, seriously."

Now Ichigo's whole exterior cracked up and he had to lean against the bars in order to keep himself steady: "I… I can't – hah – believe it! You got that crazy woman pre-pregnant? Are you completely nuts, Grimmjow?! Which month?"

"Second."

"Oh, my! Then you'll have a lot of torture in front of you!"

"That was certainly not the reason I came here for."

Ichigo became once again serious: "What? Don't tell me there's a new war to come! Please!"

"I don't know. I just thought you deserved to know that _our_ King escaped his Kidõprison you Shinigami put him into."

Ichigo paled: "You… you have a king?"

Grimmjow looked at him with a befuddled expression: "Don't tell me you didn't know? Of course we have! You locked him away because he became a threat for _all_ worlds, even my own."

Ichigo closed his eyes and took some deep breaths to calm himself down: "Well, thanks for telling me."

He drew an invisible line in the air that slowly tore apart and created a Garganta; then he opened the cell Grimmjow was in: "Here, I guess you're still a bit weak from the Sekkiseki. Congratulate Nell from me, okay?"

The blue-haired man snorted the nth time that night: "Sure."

As soon as the abyss closed behind the man Ichigo sighed: "King, huh? Great…"

~*~

The petite Shinigami sat on the large bed and stared off into the dark distance of the room: "Ichigo… it's way past midnight, where the Hell are you?"

As if on cue a pair of pure white shoji doors with the black sign of the royal family on them appeared and out stepped Ichigo who looked about to die as he let himself fall down on the bed.

"Hard day?"

"You have no idea!"

Rukia smiled and motioned him to lay his head on her lap again. He sighed in gratitude.

As soon as his head made contact with the soft fabric of her Shihakusho he began snuggling closer up to her, burying his face in the clothing covering her stomach. His right hand once again began stroking her lower back and he let out a content sigh.

"I like being this close to you, Rukia."

His voice sent vibrations throughout her body and shivers down her spine. He smiled at realizing that.

"You are talking like a shojo-guy, you had too much sake, I think."

"Nah, I think I'm just too tired to think straight."

Looking up at her he gave her a weary smile as if to emphasize his words. Rukia smiled back and began stroking his hair. He closed his eyes and his smile brightened slightly.

Then he opened them again and his content smile became slightly sly as he whispered: "You know… I just got an idea."

"What could that be, strawberry?"

He sat up and turned back towards her, pulling up his left leg whilst the other lay on the mattress in an open triangle. His features became gentle and his eyelids closed a little as his left hand came up to cup her cheek. In the blink of an eye he had crushed his lips to hers, a moan escaping his throat at that.

He moved his lips softly against hers, nibbling at her lower lip lightly. When he tilted his head to the sight and began to kiss her with a little more force her arms snaked around his neck bringing them both closer together. His own arms wrapped around her waist pushing them both chest to chest.

Rukia gasped at the sudden movement. The next moment she felt his tongue invading her mouth with the force of a tsunami.

When they finally broke apart for air their breaths were labored and their foreheads rested against each other's as Ichigo began to speak in barely a whisper: "How did you like… my 'idea'?"

"I liked it a lot."

He engaged her in a fierce lip-lock once again. She didn't object as he moved his lips down her jaw and towards her neck, nibbling lightly and biting down on her pulse point. As she let out a little yelp at that he used his tongue to soothe some of her pain. She moaned at that eliciting a low growl at the back of his throat as reply.

Without her noticing he moved his face up and he breathed right into her ear: "Lay down."

His hot breath sent shivers throughout her whole body but she complied nonetheless. In less than three seconds she felt the soft mattress under her and Ichigo over her body, the latter softly kissing and licking her ear.

"Undo your obi," his husky voice demanded next and for some reason only kami knew her hands obliged without hesitation as her eyes were closed halfway and her breathing became heavier. She could feel his smile at her ear as he gave her temple a peck and then once again resumed in ravishing her mouth.

When he noticed she had discarded her obi he brought his hands down to his own waist, mimicking her. The moment his own was gone as well their hands gained an own free will as they began to rip off each other's clothes in record time not breaking their lip contact once.

As soon as their upper robes where nothing but shreds on the bed and the floor they wasted no time in moving their hands all over each others body leaving trails of fire on their skin.

Whilst her hands reveled in feeling his muscles he first began to stroke her stomach but slowly itched higher until his hands were palming her breasts making both of them moan in unison.

Only reluctantly did he break their kiss in order for them both to breathe. They were panting heavily and looked at each other for some minutes without making a sound or moving a muscle.

Slowly he moved his face closer to hers again and when his lips were not even an inch apart from hers he whispered three simple words that made her heart cease to beat for a minute, then crushed his lips on hers again.

His hands were itching closer and closer to her Hakama's hem until he finally got a hold on them and with one resolute tug he yanked them down and off of her. Rukia let out a gasp as cold air hit her _everywhere_. She had the urge to cover herself up but Ichigo's hands and body prevented her from doing so.

"Don't you dare hide anything." His voice was low and sent a new wave of shivers down her spine. As his hands buried themselves into her midnight tresses, he whispered a command once again. "Return the favor."

Moments later his own Hakama hit the floor next to the bed. He smirked. "Good girl." She mustered something near a glare despite the fact that his hips were currently rocking against hers. "Be cautious, the 'good girl' is in a good position to kick you where the sun doesn't shine," she hissed through gritted teeth.

He chuckled. "My, my, feisty." His lips went for her left ear. "I like that." She gasped as she felt _it_ at her entrance and Ichigo hurried in distracting her a little more as he began kissing her all over her face.

The next she knew was a sudden pain coursing through her abdomen. Unasked tears began to moist her violet orbs but didn't fall as Ichigo staid perfectly still until her ragged breath finally came back to normal. He pecked her on the lips, a silent question for her. Her head nodding yes was the only confirmation he needed.

Biting back a moan he pulled out of her slowly and when only half an inch was still inside Rukia he pushed back into her, this time not able to fight back the sounds coming out of his mouth.

He repeated this again and again getting quicker with each thrust until he felt his climax coming. Judging by Rukia's involuntary convulsing around him he knew she wasn't far from the edge as well.

Before either party knew what was happening they were crushing their lips together as both their minds went haywire and then fell back towards earth in unison.

As soon as his breath had calmed down somewhat he lifted himself up from atop Rukia and lay down beside her, collecting her in his arms. It wasn't long before both fell asleep.

~*~

Rukia woke up to a pretty strange sensation. Like something warm was pressing her to a hard yet soft _thing_. And that thing was _breathing_.

She blinked open her eyes and was met with a naked chest slowly heaving up and down signaling a steady breathing. Looking up her gaze fell on the relaxed expression of a sleeping Kurosaki Ichigo. As if knowing she had woken up his hold on her tightened and his face buried itself in her raven tresses.

She smiled as she – too – snuggled more in his embrace leaning her face in the crook of his neck in return.

"So you're awake?"

Rukia nearly jumped at the sudden sound of his voice on top of her head.

"I thought you were asleep."

He smiled in her hair: "What made you think that?"

Rukia didn't answer because that moment she let out a long yawn. Her breath tickled his neck and he let out a soft, barely audible giggle.

Rukia smirked: "What? Did I just hear the great Kurosaki Ichigo _giggle_? Impossible!"

"Why you little!"

Before she was able to comprehend what he was doing he laid on top of her smiling down at her evilly. The next second he was kissing the living daylight out of her.

Her arms wrapped themselves around his neck on their own account and he broke away in order to nuzzle her neck: "What about a round 2?"

"Sounds good enough to me."

But that would have to wait until later because-

-a knock at the door made them both groan.

"_Kurosaki-sama? Well… I'm terribly sorry to interrupt you… in anything that you might be doing at the moment but… there is someone… you should meet_," came Kirio's voice through the thin paper doors. Her blush was evident in her voice.

Ichigo sighed annoyed: "Who the hell is it?"

"_That, Majesty, is something you have to find out on your own._"

Mumbling under his breath something along the lines of 'I hate it when she's speaking in riddles' Ichigo reluctantly got out of bed and went to the closet – sorry – walk-in closet and got dark blue jeans, a black shirt and a pair of boxers for himself and a black kimono with white Sakura petals on it along some underwear for Rukia out of it.

"Here, that should fit you. I told Kirio to put in some clothes for you in case you stay here for a longer amount of time."

"Thanks."

~*~

When Ichigo and Rukia exited the royal chambers Kirio was waiting for them looking embarrassed but not surprised to see Rukia there. That made the couple blush as well.

"Follow me, please. We have to go to the hospital ward."

Ichigo frowned: "What the hell? Kirio, what's up?"

Said woman fidgeted a little bit: "Well… I don't know how to explain it… so please just stay patient until we're there."

Ichigo's frown deepened but he didn't object.

When they arrived by the ward a young Chinese-looking, black-haired woman was already awaiting them. An expensive-looking hair clip held up her long hair and only few tresses were falling around her face framing it. Her skin was porcelain; her eyes were heavily lidded and had the color of amber flames. She wore an orange kimono matching her eyes. It was held together by a black sash and gave her a royal look.

Upon seeing Ichigo a smile crept on her stoic features and she wasted no time in hugging him tight.

"Ichigo! It's nice to see you!"

"Grandma! We saw each other only last week! No need to choke me!"

'_GRANDMA?!_'

Yeah, you got it right. Ichigo's grandmother looks like the dark pendant to Sode no Shirayuki. A hot one at that.

"Uh… Ichigo?"

Ichigo blinked and looked back at his little counterpart: "Oh! Sorry, forgot that! Rukia, this is my grandmother Kurosaki Minami. She's the sole reason a lunatic such as my father is tyrannizing the universe."

He hadn't finished the sentence as his grandmother – which, by the way, didn't look older than effin' 25 years – smacked the back of his head.

"Ungrateful royal brat! If I hadn't put me through the pain of giving birth to that useless idiot YOU wouldn't be here! And now I would like to know what that Shinigami does here!"

Ichigo sent a glare her way before straightening himself up: "That's Kuchiki Rukia, my fiancée."

Another smile lightened up her face as she embraced Rukia just as tightly as she had Ichigo: "Aw! My grandson finally found someone! I'm so glaaaaad! So that means you two were making those noises last night! I could hardly sleep although my chambers are at the opposite side of the castle!"

'I can see where Isshin-san got his attitude from,' thought Rukia as her face became a deep shade of scarlet.

The strawberry sighed aggravated and blushed as he peeled his grandmother away from his little counterpart: "What does that mean 'finally'? I wasn't even supposed to have myself in a relationship yet!" He ignored her last comment. The heat in his face was already humiliating and proof enough.

The old… uh… young woman pouted: "Please! That so-called codex is bull!"

[insert animesweatdrops]

"Uh… sure…"

~*~

"Well, would one of you two be as considerate as to tell Rukia and me what we were called here for?"

His grandmother – oh wonder! – sobered up and closed her eyes shut before answering with her head hold down: "Well… this could be a shock for you, Ichigo…" She sighed and motioned them to follow her inside the ward.

The room she had led them to was medium-sized and only one bed was there. The still form of a woman laid there, her chest rising slightly indicating she was alive.

Ichigo blanched: "… Masaka…"

"Ichigo, is that-" but he never waited for Rukia finishing her sentence. Instead he ran towards the bed and stared down at the woman he knew couldn't possible be alive anymore for he had seen her dead form with his own eyes.

Tears streamed down his face as his gaze kept glued to the woman in front of him taking in the orange curls of her hair, the blue dress and white jacket she'd worn that day.

"How," he choked out barely above a whisper.

Minami kept her spot beside the doors as she began to explain.

"When a Hollow gets killed by a Shinigami its soul is send to Soul Society in its original form. However, if that Hollow devoured other souls they get send to Soul Society as well, one each week as to not overflow the Rukongai districts. It was only a matter of time until Masaki would return after Grand Fisher would be killed. But apparently, since she's a member of royalty, she got transferred to this world instead of Rukon."

"She… should awake at any moment," she added with the lowest of voices.

The door closed behind her without a sound and Rukia slowly approached the teen careful not to startle him in any way.

When he felt her petite hand on his shoulder he averted his face and whipped away his tears albeit it was useless. She'd already seen them.

"'You think… she'll have any memories about what happened after her death?"

"I…" But tired moaning in front of them interrupted her. Both their heads snapped around and their eyes followed every single little move the woman made.

~*~

Her eyes opened slowly, her view was blurred but it cleared up shortly after she had forced her eyelids open completely.

'Wha? Weren't I at the riverbank just now? Where's Ichigo? Eh? Isn't that the royal dimension? What the hell happened?'

With great difficulty she turned her head to the left and her gaze immediately fell on two young persons – according to their appearance at least. She frowned: "Who…?" Her voice was horse as if it hadn't been used for years on end.

A sudden thought crossed her mind and she jerked up: "What the? Which year do we have? Where's Ichigo?"

One of the persons – the male one – looked shaken by her evident panic but she couldn't concentrate on that right now. What mattered now was where her son was and what happened to that damn Hollow!

She felt tender hands on her shoulders and turned her head once again towards the two standing by her bed. That was the first time she noticed his bright orange hair color.

"You died nearly 8 years ago… by… damn, mom, it's me. Don't tell me I changed that much!" His eyes like molten amber looked desperate, they pierced into her own with silent plea. There was no way in a frozen-over hell a mother wouldn't recognize her son's eyes, seriously.

Her lips moved but no sound came out. She didn't resist as he pulled her into his arms. As if she was in a trance she wrapped her arms around her 'suddenly' grown-up son and buried her face in his chest. The woman stood by patiently waiting for both of them to calm down somewhat.

"You have some explanations to do… Ichigo."

Unseen by her a smile crept on his features as he tightened his embrace around her: "I know."

~*~

As soon as both mother and son had calmed down somewhat Ichigo sat down next to her on the bed and as he noticed Rukia standing next to them not knowing what to do he sighed and pulled her down to sit next to him. She blushed.

"Well, I guess… it would be easier to explain everything if I knew what's the last thing you can remember."

"The river," she whispered simply but it left a bitter feeling in everyone present – even Rukia for she knew the story.

"You managed it," he suddenly whispered back into the silence and both the women's gazes locked on the orange-headed teen king.

"Back then… you saved me… but the Hollow… ate your soul… and… none of us was the same again…"

"That was until Rukia came. She pretty much brought us back to normal again – especially me. Boy, she made me smile the first time since years. I guess because she reminds me of you… although you never hit me like that," he added with a smile as if to support his words some more.

He sighed: "She gave me her powers… in order to protect us all from a Hollow… that triggered everything…"

With that said he came to describe what happened up until the night Byakuya and Renji came. Masaki's mouth gaped open as he told her how Byakuya pierced him from behind and damaged the two pillars of his soul. And how they took Rukia away. Noticing that he smiled at his mother reassuringly: "We're here, aren't we? Doesn't that mean everything I'm telling you ended good?"

The orange-headed woman closed her mouth and sighed in reply: "That doesn't mean nothing of that never happened. You still experienced this ERGO it scarred your soul."

And to her surprise Ichigo replied: "I don't mind."

Her head snapped towards him: "What?"

He chuckled lightly: "Now there's one more thing you have in common with Rukia: both of you worry too much about me. I'm glad all of this happened. Because of this I found the woman I want to share the rest of my life with. I couldn't be happier."

And preventing any sorts of further questions he continued the story. There were no interruptions until he came to their parting after he managed to rescue her. The dreaded 'interruption' was in form of a Kurosaki Masaki addressing Rukia: "How could you do that to him? He moved heaven and hell to save you from Seireitei and you still stayed there?"

Rukia blushed: "It was necessary for me in order to regain my powers. There was a war approaching and we needed everybody at full strength."

"But still…"

"Mom, it's okay. After all… she came back, more than once."

And this time he was able to tell the story to its end. Masaki looked deeply shaken but somehow managed to remain calm.

'It's always like that… she never allowed herself to show any kind of unease…'

But before anyone could speak up again gates appeared in front of them. Turning their heads towards the shoji doors they only caught a glimpse of the persons exiting because the people in question tackled Masaki the moment the gates opened fully.

"What the hell?" Taking a better look at them a vein popped at Ichigo's temple. "Yuzu? Karin? DAD?!"

His father stopped glomping his 'late' wife and glared at his son: "How could you keep her away from us you ungrateful brat?!"

"Ungrateful brat? She just woke up about half an hour ago! I only just finished telling her what happened the past years, for heaven's sake! I was about to tell you guys when you started choking her!"

"Liar!"

"Why you lunatic!"

"CUT IT!"

Karin finally had enough and screamed on the top of her lungs. Before any more arguments could ensue they heard laughter next to them as Masaki and Rukia both began to lightly chuckle and then broke out into full-fledged laughing fits.

The four other Kurosakis looked at them in stunned silence for once. Finally calming down Masaki turned her head towards Rukia: "I'm glad THAT didn't change one bit."

Yes, life's getting better and better for our strawberry… but not for long anyways…

~*~

Two months had passed. And those two months had been a lot of things.

Nerve-wrecking. Imagine the Kurosakis getting reunited with Masaki. If that doesn't kill off your patience you are seriously messed up.

Torture. Imagine **everyone** – and I mean _**everyone**_ – getting overly excited about their marriage. Even Byakuya smiled when he thought no one's watching. Official he was so 'font' of their planned engagement because it would mean a big deal for the clan but in official… heck, deep inside he was only human despite what people might think. He loved the prospect of the Kurosaki brat being tortured by this little devil of a Kuchiki heiress. And up there… no one could here his screams.

[insert creepy Jigsaw breathing]

Screamy. Yes, they got hot and sweaty under the blankets a lot. That was their new method to get rid of stress and it worked out. Despite the wedding preparations they were completely relaxed whilst everyone else was getting more and more irritated. Blame the pent up sexual tension building itself up.

But most of all… they had been shocking…

_One month prior…_

"_I'm throwing up a lot lately. Do you have any idea why? Because I don't feel sick, Minami-san."_

"_First, I told you to call me grandma. Second… did you guys use protection?"_

_Rukia nearly fell off the chair: "WHAT?! What has that to do with me throwing up?!"_

_The Kurosaki sighed. 'She's just as dense as Isshin and Ichigo… she really belongs to this family…'_

"_Well, unlike humans I don't need to do a pregnancy test on you. The second Reiatsu in you is as clear as day, honestly. So, since I know, you can guess my last question was only rhetorical. Congrats! I can't believe I get a great-grandchild!" And she hugged her tight nearly choking her._

_Needless to say… Rukia plus child nearly died due to lack-of-oxygen._

So now, one month later, it was the night of their wedding – yes, they wanted to marry under the moonlight for good effect, very strange – and Ichigo still didn't know of his luck. Happy guy.

~*~

He stood in front of the priest still waiting for Rukia to come down the aisle as he whispered to Renji: "Say… is it normal for a guy in my position to feel like I'm going to be executed?"

The baboon smiled smugly: "Don't know, man. I never was and hopefully never will be married. That would only mean getting ordered around by a woman. And in your case it's only more insulting since she's only half your size."

"I'm so going to kill you."

"No, you won't."

"How so?"

"Because as soon as you turn your thick head around you'll forget how to breathe."

"Wha," began the strawberry whilst turning his head around. And he indeed nearly forgot to breathe upon being met with the sight walking towards him.

Rukia wore a thin, dark violet Kimono, the arms reaching over the tips of her fingers in spindrift-like layers; the front of the cloth was slightly shorter than the rest of it. Over it she wore another Kimono, this one being black with golden markings at the hem of the arms. A dark violet sash held the whole attire together. An expensive-looking hair clip that had the form of a white, silvery moon and a black, red glimmering sun held up her black raven tresses.

All in all she looked downright _**gorgeous**_. And she was soon to be all _his_. He had to literally prevent waterfalls to come flowing out his mouth. But he didn't manage to stop his eyes from bulging. Pity. Rukia couldn't help a self-satisfied smirk to cross her features. Ichigo gulped. She was _so_ to let him hear that for the next 300 or so years – if not longer.

Byakuya who was walking Rukia down the aisle noticed an evil glint appearing in her eyes and couldn't help but pity is future-brother-in-law.

Yup, _definitely_ longer than just 300 years.

When they arrived in front of the priest Byakuya gave the young king a short nod and went to the sidelines, taking his place next to Isshin – you can only imagine how this guy bawled. Poor Bya-kun.

In the row behind the Kurosakis and Kuchikis were all their friends sitting. Hinamori Momo was looking around nervously and wondering where the short-tempered Taichõ of Squad 10 was.

'He won't skip the wedding, right?'

"Yo."

She jerked her head around at the sudden twisted voice and her brown eyes widened considerably as she was met with a pure white version of the Spirit King.

"A-ah, you must be… Kurosaki-san's inner hollow, r-right?" That was Momo to you. Always trying to be polite.

He grinned wickedly. "Good guess." Without asking he sat down next to her making her shiver.

Rukia glared at her orange-haired soon-to-be. "Why the hell did you bring him out for?" She whispered harshly.

Ichigo sweat dropped. "I didn't want him in my head talking trash while we are _getting married_. Is that too much to ask for, damn it?"

"Don't curse on our wedding, fool!"

"Don't insult me on our wedding, runt!"

The priest – Ukitake, by the way – was smiling nervously as he listened to their whispered argument.

'Even on their wedding they are fighting…'

A sudden scream made them all turn towards Momo and Shirosaki – the former standing and slowly backing away from the white hollow. Ichigo sighed. "What did that good-for-nothing do this time?"

Momo blushed. "H-he… gr-groped… me," she nearly squeaked and Ichigo blushed furiously as well – okay, yes, the entire audience blushed – safe for Shirosaki, of course.

_That guy is a part of the groom and still groped another woman on the wedding?!_

Before one Kurosaki Isshin (and son) could do anything to beat the Hollow into a bloody pulp a skinny yet strong fist connected with Shirosaki's left cheek throwing him some meters away. Their attention locked onto Hitsugaya Tõshirõ who was beet-red in his face and whose turquoise eyes were glittering with killing attend.

'_How dare that perverted mess of instincts grope __my__ Mo-, what the hell?! Did the blood boiling in my head kill of my brain, damn it?!_'

He sighed. "Sorry, Kurosaki, I know I'm late but I had some private business to take care of. And sorry for interrupting this far into the ceremony."

Ichigo waved it off nervously – that guy just knocked his Hollow out cold, he didn't want to piss that guy off right now, seriously – "N-no, don't worry, private matters have priority and… and I should've known he would put some stunt like… like that, I'm sorry."

Tõshirõ blinked and Ichigo noticed his right hand twitching. "Hm? I don't know what you are talking about, Kurosaki."

They all broke out a cold sweat as the young prodigy sat down beside Hinamori.

_Way to go…_

Ukitake cleared his throat. "Should we start… the ceremony now?"

"A-ah…"

As they exchanged wedding vows, Isshin couldn't help but wonder.

'Her Reiatsu doesn't change at all… but that is impossible. This ceremony should make her Royality… and there is no way in a frozen hell they already have had sex, right? They are too prude…'

Ukitake was about to say 'You may kiss the bride' but was never going to actually say those words as Ichigo had already wrapped his arms around Rukia and was crushing his lips on hers like his life depended on it.

Nobody knew what the wedding reception would bring upon them…

* * *

Well… I know the lemon was kinda… no, it was crap. My first try so be mercifully, I plead you once more!

I read over a dozen times that Masaki lives in the King's Realm in several Fanfictions. But never ever ONCE did I read an explanation. So tried myself in one for a change.

And with the Hollow King… I **know** that fatass Barragan is… _was_ the King of Hueco Mundo but you know what? I don't care! This is technically an AU so I can do with Bleach whatever I want! Ha!

In future the uploads will take some time so bear with me or just back away.

That chapter dragged itself terribly. Honestly. After page 9 it just didn't want to move forward… *aggravated sigh* But thanks to my dear friend Pieps XD I got inspired for the wedding xD The Shirosaki bashing (although I love him to death) was made up by her crazy yet brilliant, evil mind, so kudos on that go to her! And I know it's unusual for wedding guests to come after the bride already went down the aisle but since it were Shiro-chan and Shiro… I thought it wouldn't be all too surprising xD

And thus I come to my last rambling. The next chapter will – despite my preview – feature the party after the wedding because I got a whole bunch of *perverted* ideas for it *grins evilly* But even those ideas aren't entirely my own since I thought the 8th chapter out with my evil confederate in crime I mentioned above *rises hand for high-five towards her* So after the party ends I can hopefully come to the 'time travel', which will be something you wouldn't expect, I guess xD

* * *

haõ - king

Masaka! – Impossible!


	9. A Party to Remember rather not

~*~

**Family Duties**

~*~

I'm posting this on March 8th because one of my loyal readers and hopefully-now-friend's Birthday is today~ Happy B-day hitsugayatoshirou1220 and here's my present for you! XD

~*~

"_**Well, there's no point if my landlord's gonna croak**_"  
Hollow Ichigo to Ichigo before helping him defeat Zangetsu

~*~

**Hachi:** A Party to Remember... rather not

~*~

Albeit the fact that it was already heading towards 11pm as the party was supposed to start everyone was being wide awake as they chatted away, gave their presents to the newly-weds, danced or drunk their heads off. All in all the party was starting with everyone running towards the bar.

Shinigami really didn't have much hobbies besides drinking, did they?

~*~

Matsumoto was already drunk as Tôshirô arrived at her side by the bar, looking annoyed like hell.

"Wha -hicks- tickd ya off, -hicks- Taichâh?"

Ignoring the fact she was barely conscious and he hardly understood her, he sighed and sat down beside her, kindly declining the offer of a drink from the bartender.

"I'm searching for Hinamori. I didn't see her since the ceremony and I'm worried about Kurosaki's Hollow."

Rangiku smiled intoxicated and let out another hicks. "Ya dun need ta worre, Taichâ. -hicks- sa wenn wish Kira ta his chambars."

It took the young prodigy some seconds to decipher her incomprehensible speech but when he finally understood his sea-foam colored eyes widened. "What? She went with Kira? To his _chambers_? **Alone**?"

Upon hearing his tone of voice Rangiku sobered up enough to ask gently – and miraculously understandable. "Think you want a drink now?"

Tôshirô looked at her for a while in silence, then waving the bartender over. "I guess so," chuckled Matsumoto with a sly smirk.

_Meanwhile outside the party hall..._

Kira leaned heavily on Momo as she stroked his back.

"Don't worry, it'll be over soon," she whispered to him as he vomited once again due to alcohol overdose.

_Under a cherry blossom tree a little away from the party..._

Rukia let out a small giggle as Ichigo's lips traveled up and down the sensitive skin of her neck not bothering to keep his lips closed – or contain his tongue, for that matter. His arms around her waist tightened as he nestled her more into his front, moaning some.

As his right hand came up towards her chest to fondle her breast he paused, detaching his mouth from the already-red skin of her neck. Frowning he looked down. "Rukia... I don't want to sound like a pervert but are they... bigger?"

Rukia gulped. "Uh... I don't know what you mean..."

He glared at her. "Rukia, don't you dare make it a habit of lying to me on our first day as a married couple. Spill it."

Rukia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Well... you see..."

"Rukia," he growled. "Hurry."

Sighing, Rukia turned around in his embrace and sat up on her knees to level her face with his. Then she blurted it out. "I'm pregnant."

Ichigo blinked, then his jaw dropped slightly. "S-seriously?"

Her gaze lowered. "Y-yeah, your grandmother told me a month ago..."

"Why didn't you tell me," he bit out through clenched teeth. Seriously, that woman was a bother. Not even telling him that he was going to be... a... father... holy shit...

"I didn't... know how... you're only 17, after all..."

As she suddenly felt his right hand under her chin, she paused and allowed him to rise her face. Her eyes widened as his lips came crushing down on hers, soon after forcing them open to deepen the kiss.

His left arm once again wound around her waist dragging her closer to him so she was nearly straddling him. Rukia's hands came up to grip at his robes in an effort to not fall limp on him like a doll.

After 3 long minutes they broke away for breath. Before the petite woman could even grasp what was happening her husband had captured her in a bone-crashing hug.

"I-Ichigo?"

"How _dare_ you not tell me? Gosh, women!"

Releasing his hold on her he grabbed her shoulders to look at her. "I'm happy, okay?" Then his eyes widened. "You didn't have anything to drink so far, did you?"

Her fist connected with his head. "Idiot, of course not. I may be naïve but I'm NOT stupid!"

It was pathetic how the King of Soul Society was letting himself get beaten up by his petite wife...

~*~

"Inoue-san... may I have a dance?"

The female looked up to be met with bespectacled, blue orbs. She immediately waved off. "I-iya, Ishida-kun, I'm not a good dancer!"

Ishida smiled understanding. "No problem, maybe later then?"

Nodding she attempted to smile genuinely but failed. "A-ah, maybe."

The Quincy was already turning around as he stopped once more. When he spoke his voice was icy. "Just so you know, Inoue-san. If you don't hurry up and give up on Kurosaki... we others won't stay patient with you for much longer. Isn't the fact that he chose _her_ of all people enough of a broad hint? Get over him and move on or you will find out how lonely and harsh reality can be," turning around he gave her a serious glare. "Just a friendly advice."

Ishida was already moving away again as he heard Inoue speaking up behind him. "A-ano... maybe one dance wouldn't hurt... ne, Ishida-kun?"

He sighed. _You better be serious about this..._

~*~

The blonde snickered as the cat-like woman in front of him pulled down his trousers.

Yoruichi let out a drunken giggle. "Don't you dare snicker, idiot."

And Kisuke -indeed- ceased snickering shortly after.

~*~

Isshin and Kyôraku sat at the bar not too far away from Matsumoto and Tôshirô – the latter slowly finding out just how much liquor he could handle... especially before beginning to ramble.

Taking a sip from his cup Shunsui grinned. "I bet at least one is getting laid tonight."

The King's father nodded. Whilst bringing his own share of alcohol to his lips he pointed towards the white-haired genius with the hand holding his cup. "60 bucks it's going to be him. Oh, and 20 more on Kisuke and my idiot son."

The brunette snorted. "Serious? Your son is married, of course he'll get laid tonight, it's their effin' wedding night! Kisuke? You _kidding_? He's a horndog par excellence _of course_ he's going to go all night with the little kitty. And for lil' Shiro over there... you thought your son is a prude? Then he's the abstinence personified. No way in hell he's going to get laid!"

Isshin smirked. "Then you're going to be 60 bucks richer tomorrow."

Shunsui looked at him through narrowed eyes. "Too easy..."

With another sip of sake he emptied his shot. "Of course it is. I'm royalty. I know what'll happen in the immediate future. How do you think did I manage to stop Ichigo from running away when he was 13?"

Shunsui sighed. "Remember me to never bet with you ever."

"Nope."

~*~

Having to watch out for a pregnant woman whilst a wild party is going on was torture.

Poor Ichi.

_Is it sick that I'd prefer any device Jigsaw could come up with over this? … probably..._

"Heeeeeey, Kurosaki... and Kurosaki! Ya wanna have a drink, too?"

"No! God damn it! Keep that stuff away from her!"

And so it went on...

~*~

It was official.

Hitsugaya Tôshirô – walking icicle of doom and permanently irritated workaholic – was completely and utterly wasted with no hope of sobering up anytime soon.

Oh joy...

"It's not like I've got a freakin' _crush_ on her or somethin' but she's ma oldest friend an' all... it's perfectly _normal_ that I'm worried, ri'?" He ranted, the way he was slurring his words being a dead giveaway on how much the sake was already affecting him.

Rangiku nodded rigorously. "Of course," not sounding one bit convinced. She had sobered up some the moment she noticed her superior getting hopelessly drunk – a sight no alcohol and/or hangover was going to delete from her mind. _Ever_.

Tôshirô was shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders as he continued. "I-I mean, I'm not _jealous_ or somethin'. I just don't think Kira is... _good enough_ for her. I'm just being protective!"

"Riiiiiight." And in his intoxicated state – 5 bottles of sake and still not knocked out, impressive – the young Taichô actually believed his inferior.

"I should check on her, just to be sure." And without waiting for her reply he downed the rest of his shot and stood up making his way out of the hall on surprisingly steady feet.

"I should probably feel sorry for Kira... there's no way he's going to survive this night..." Shrugging the whole case off she waved at the bartender. "Another bottle, pronto!"

~*~

Isshin smirked and leaned back in his seat. "And thus the drama unfolds..."

Shunsui stared at him blankly. "Shut it, Isshin, it's ridiculous."

Said man pouted. "It's not!"

~*~

"Here you are!"

The black and white orbs widened. "Oh, _please_."

The next he knew he was yanked by the back of his bleached robes and fierce amber stones glared daggers at him. "Just _what the hell_ do you think you are doing, huh? I told you I'd let you walk around _during_ the ceremony and not – I repeat NOT – at the friggin' **party**!! It's bad enough that you _groped _Hinamori at my wedding, I most certainly don't want a repetition of that!"

"But-!"

"No 'but's!" With that Ichigo absorbed his Hollow's materialized form back into his being, sighing annoyed. "What a hassle."

Rukia grinned at him. "Well, you didn't have to pull him out in the first place, idiot."

Before Ichigo had a chance to retaliate (more like, throw back an insult) someone called out his name. "Oi, Kurosaki!"

The moment he turned towards the source of noise a small fist connected with his stomach smacking the air out of him.

_What the fuck?_

As he looked up the only thing he could grasp was a mob of white hair.

His eyes widened. "Tôshirô?!"

~*~

"_Tôshirô?!"_

"Shuddap, Kurosakee..." The way he slurred his words made it apparent to Ichigo that that guy drank several cups of sake over the thirst... damn this Matsumoto...

"What the hell's up with you?!"

"I saaaaid shuddap!" He swayed a bit until catching his footing again and hauled off to strike at him again but Ichigo got a hold on the young genius' wrist with ease this time knowing what was coming at him.

With him being on alert Tôshirô's next move flashed up in his sub-conscience and he quickly moved out of his foot's way twisting Hitsugaya's arm behind said boy's back in the process, forcing him down on his knees.

"Ichigo!" As said man looked up to be met with his moody wife's death glare the scowl that today mercifully left his facial expression reappeared with full force and an awful vengeance.

"What? He attacked me and I'm defending myself. Period," he hissed, giving her a glare of his own.

"Hitsugaya-kun! Kurosaki-san! Kurosaki-san!" As the two mentioned latest turned around they could see one pretty exhilarated Hinamori Momo run into their direction. As she finally came to a halt in front of them she had to base herself on her knees as she bent forward, breathing a bit heavier.

Frowning at her drunken friend, she loses Ichigo's grip on his arm and yanks at it to make him follow her, which he does obediently like a puppy in his intoxicated state. Facing them again over her shoulder whilst walking towards the exit she throws them an apologetic smile. "Sorry for his behavior. I'll take him outside until he's coherent again, okay? Gomenasai."

Ichigo sighs. "Someone who can't handle liquor shouldn't spend their time at a party with drink heads..."

Rukia only closes her eyes and looks pretty unnerved as she has one hand on her left hip and the other grabbing Ichigo's left ear yanking him down. "You, mister, are none to talk." With that she dragged him away ignoring his curses.

~*~

"Really, Hitsugaya-kun, what has gotten into you? Not only starting a fight but starting a fight with the King of Soul Society no less!" Momo had crossed her arms across her chest and glared at her friend ever since childhood with a look that would be even more efficient in freezing Hell over than his own Zanpakutô.

The short-tempered boy didn't reply and only stared at her with a strange – slightly creepy – expression on his face.

Before Hinamori even knew what he was doing he was already standing in front of her, too close for comfort.

"Eh?"

"You know, your glare is amazing."

_What the hell?!_

Well, now we can see what happens when Tôshirô gets drunk.

Slowly backing up and holding up her hands Momo tried to talk herself away. "A-ano, I guess you're too drunk to have a coherent conversation with at the moment... I-I... will just go... now, okay, Hitsugaya-kun?"

But before she could turn around and pretty much run away the young genius had captured her wrists and had brought his face so close to hers that she could feel his alcohol-infested breath on her skin and its smell crawled up her nose.

"S-stop it!"

He paid her no heed as his lips came crushing down on hers, taking away her last, verbal objections.

~*~

Ichigo's lips began wandering from her mouth along her jawline and slowly towards her neck, occasionally biting down on her soft and sensitive skin making her wriggle underneath him.

"T-they will find out we left the party... sooner or l-later..."

He smiled against her skin as he removed the sash around her waist and parted the folds of her kimono. "Aw, don't be such a kill-joy... I want to have some celebration sex..."

_Hm... maybe one round won't hurt... or four..._

When his lips connected with the soft, wet flesh of her sex she jolted and let out a loud moan.

_Okay, more like six or seven..._

~*~

"Hitsugaya-kun!"

"Sssh..."

With that he pushed her down on his bed.

~*~

The soft, yellow rays of the early spring morning sun came in through the slightly open window of the barracks of the 10th Division Captain, falling upon his facial features and making a frown appear on his face.

_Damn this hangover_, he thought as he screwed his eyelids shut some more and turned around onto his other side to be able to escape the penetrating bright sunlight.

Sensing the presence of _something_ next to him he unconsciously wrapped his right arm over _it_, dragging _it_ closer to himself. It wasn't until 30 seconds after this that his aching mind registered something really strange about the object lying next to him and being currently wrapped flush against his bare body.

_It_ was breathing.

And felt dubiously close like a woman's body.

_Oh hell NO..._

Quickly debating over opening his eyes and checking who lay next to him or keeping his eyes shut and live on in blissful oblivion for some more time he decided upon the former and slowly – as to not make his headache any more painful – opened his sea foam colored orbs.

"Shit..." he cursed under his breath.

Next to him lay no one else than – guess who – Hinamori Momo.

He was SO screwed...

Hitsugaya Tôshirô stayed frozen in place like this for another 5 minutes until...

* * *

… he screamed his lungs out, fell out of his bed dragging the blankets with him down and bringing Momo to stir.

FUCK.

He wasn't just screwed... he was fucking DEAD MEAT.

Why, you ask?

Well, you never witnessed a cranky Hinamori... and never want to encounter her that way... and most certainly don't want to worsen everything with the fact that you took advantage of her the night before.

Yes, he was screwed, fucked and everything in between.

Seeing his clothes lay scattered on the other side of the room he had no other option than to watch on in mild horror as his childhood friend opened her eyes – which purposefully fell onto his currently barely-covered form.

Blink.

Blink.

Then...

"!!"

Momo jumped and fell backwards but was dragged back forward due to her being entangled in the blanket Tôshirô was currently covered with.

And thus, cliché unfolds...

~*~

One blinked and got a blink in return as both Shinigami stared at each other. Tôshirô had straightened himself up with his arms and Momo's hands were on his shoulders as she lay flush on him, thankfully both covered and separated by the blanket.

Speaking of awkward.

Hitsugaya averted his gaze and scratched his head as he tried to come up with something to say besides 'Don't kill me!!' and cry like a little girl. He sighed lowly and looked back at her. "Um... Hinamori... I..." and he trailed off.

Coward.

The young Captain once again looked off to the side as to not face her.

"Those things you said yesterday... were they true?"

His head snapped around. "Eh?"

_Flashback_

_As he carefully loosened the sash around her thin waist he slowly leaned over so his face_

_was hovering over hers._

"_You know, I had an insane crush on you since forever," he said huskily before he claimed her_

_lips once again._

_Flashback End_

"Well?"

Hitsugaya blushed crimson as he lowered his gaze and began fumbling with the thin blankets. "Ah... well... you know what they say... ne? Drunken mouths spill truths... or something like that..."

His useless babbling was cut short as his normally-shy-friend pressed her lips to his.

Needless to say... he silenced up at once.

She hadn't minded his actions the night before one bit. She was just shocked what some alcohol (more like, 5 bottles plus) was able to do to him. For Jesus' sake, he wasn't the only one able to crush!

His eyelids quickly fluttered shut and he wasted no time in participating enthusiastically in the soft kiss that soon became more deep and passionate. Without him giving a thought to it his tongue darted out and glided over the slightly swollen lips of his longtime friend causing her to open her mouth hesitantly.

His brain went downhill from there.

One of his hands came up to her back and began fumbling with the hem of the blanket that was currently wrapped tightly around her whilst her arms snaked around his neck, Momo's right hand buried itself in his white strands as both let out satisfied moans.

Finally getting a hold on the blanket he threw it aside, grabbed Hinamori and got back on the bed in less than 15 seconds.

Seems like puberty and hormones finally caught up with him.

That was going to be a long morning...

~*~

Just as they were about to drift off to sleep cheering and clapping sounds could be heard coming from the door. Hitsugaya jerked upwards to be met with Ichigo, Rangiku and Renji standing in his open doorway with big shit-ass grins on their faces, nearly splitting them in halves.

Both he and Momo blushed furiously. "H-how much did you s-see?"

Rangiku waved off. "Don't worry, we ain't such dirty perverts as to watch you two getting it on. No, we were next door, listening."

As if that's any better.

From one second to another, however, Rangiku got back to full gushing-mode. "Aw, finally my Taichô got some backbone! And all it took was some alcoholic intoxication! I'm proud of you!"

A vein popped up at his temple at this. "_Some_? SOME?! I had more than 5 bottles last night!! It's a miracle I'm not in a sake-infested coma!"

His attention was quickly diverted to Ichigo who had a sly expression plastered on his face as he smirked at him with an raised eyebrow, his voice laced with something that screamed 'know-it-all'. "I really hope you guys used condoms otherwise my future child will have a little friend sooner rather than later."

Momo and Tôshirô blanched whilst their friends broke out into laughing fits and began rolling on the floor.

Yep, life was becoming peaceful again.

~*~

**~Omake~**

_What went on in Tôshirô's head before he attacked Ichigo?_

It was easy, really. Basically, his blurred mind put following together...

Hichigo groped Momo = bad

Hichigo and Ichigo are one person...

Thus: Ichigo needs to be punished...

As easy as 1 plus 1, ne? xP

~*~

**~Omake Number 2~**

_How to be a Noble by Kuchiki Byakuya_

"For the love of-! Byakuya! Why the hell do I have to do this crap?"

The man in question didn't seem to have heard the young royal as he grabbed the book that had fallen to the ground and held it out to Ichigo again. "Again."

And the young man grudgingly put the book back on his head to try to balance it on top of his fiery locks – oblivious to the slight twitching of the corner of his brother-in-law's mouth.

~*~

*pants heavily as she escapes another burning arrow* Okay, I know it has been eons since I last updated and I know it wasn't fair but I really didn't have the will to write a party. My life was hell... sorry folks T.T But now I'm here! And this was a pretty long chapter (right?) so it kinda makes the wait worth it... **right**? *gulps* I guess those glares say otherwise... but I wanna thank my Reviewer, those putting this story on alert and adding this to their favorites! And those adding me to their favorites/putting me on their alerts because of this story, thank you as well^^~

~*~

I was never drunk and never witnessed drunken talk so I just obscured their speech here and there.  
Also, I thought it would fit for Ishida to give Inoue 'the talk' since he's having such an obvious crush on her :D  
The UraYoru input was sorta random... but I don't care^^~  
The part with Ichi's Hollow... I like making him a) perverted and b) submissive... huh, like a sex slave... odd... *grins eerily*  
Okay, so, decided to shorten this somewhat (there was a HitsuHina lemon planned at the end)  
seeing I wouldn't have managed my dead-line otherwise. What can I say?  
My life goes more and more downhill day after day... blame *****.  
For those who are now disappointed (I know of at least one or two), I will try to  
include some more lemons in later chapters... oh! Just got a good idea  
for the plot that'd include humor and randomness in this! Haha!

~*~

And sorry for the slow updates but my inspiration for all my fics is a little cut short atm. Somehow it feels like torture to write _anything_ and I wish I had a device that wrote down what goes on in my mind... I would've finished my fics in no time :D  
And whilst speaking about this... this fic goes on unterminated Hiatus until I figured out what to do in the upcoming Arc seeing it was newer planned to be included in here. Gomenasai, but I'm sure you all want to see a foe worth of being Aizen's replacement, now, don't you?

~*~


	10. AN2

Sorry to raise false hopes with this^^"

Anyways, after trying to come up with a good plot for a new Arc for a whole month  
I came to the conclusion that I should just end it with one last Chapter  
summing everything up.

I know most of you will want to start a chivvy for me after reading this  
but I'll have to deal with this, I guess.

I think you all will find it better to have a good ending than a half-ass plot, right?

Anyways, best wishes and greetings

**Black Sun Upon An Icy Sky**


	11. Reikai

~*~

**Family Duties**

~*~

Last Chapter, sorry folks...

Ichigo: I'm sad about this story ending... somehow...

Me: *stares* But you're always happy when my fics end!!

Ichigo: But in here I'm the boss of those hypocrites!! That's badass!!

Me: Men... seriously... only happy when they're superior to someone...

Ichigo: Aw, c'mon...

Anyways~

On with the last Chapter~

~*~

"_**After winter comes the summer. After night comes the dawn. After every storm, there comes clear, open skies**_"  
Samuel Rutherford

~*~

**Kyû: **Reikai

~*~

_Her right hand grasping the small, baby blue device shook as she stared at the equally blue field that just appeared on it._

The white-haired prodigy looked up from his paperwork as the timid Fukutaichô of the 5th Division (*cough*hisgirlfriend*cough*) entered his office, slightly paler than usual. Almost instantly did his colorless eyebrows frown in worry. "What's wrong, Momo?"

Taking a deep breath the girl replied, her voice shaking. "I'm pregnant."

Hitsugaya was out cold in an instant.

_Way to go!_ Thought Momo, sighed and went to get a cold cloth for his forehead.

~*~

"_I really hope you guys used condoms otherwise my future child will have a little friend sooner rather than later."_

Back then Tôshirô had prayed to the gods that Momo wasn't getting pregnant. Goddamn it, he was technically still a kid!! … albeit him killing anyone calling him this, it was true, and he knew it.

_What am I supposed to do??????_

He sighed because he already knew the answer.

_I'm so whipped it's not even funny anymore..._

~*~

"_You're so whipped."_

"_AM NOT!!!" Screeched the King of a whole Dimension._

"Ichigo, I want a bunny."

Said man sighed. "Which color and gender?"

~*~

"_Must I really...?"_

"_Yes, and now ask her, Taichô!"_

The young genius blushed and averted his gaze from the woman in front of him.

Hinamori – now in the 3rd month – blinked at him. "What is it, Shiro-chan?"

Blushing even more he asked. "Do you want to... um... well..."

"Yes?"

"Doyouwanttomarryme?"

The black-haired girl smirked. "Excuse me, what did you say?"

"I ASKED YOU IF YOU WANT TO MARRY ME, DAMN IT!!!"

"You only had to ask me nice and friendly, no need to yell, is there, Shi~ro~chan?"

Hitsugaya groaned and face-palmed himself as he felt her lips brush against his head. "The answer's yes, by the way."

~*~

"_If it's a boy, you can name him, I'll get the girl's name."_

_Ichigo sighed. "If it's a girl, I'll be damned."_

"_How's that?"_

"_Because I'll be twice as protective as I'm with you."_

_His wife only laughed._

Ichigo and Rukia both inwardly blinked.

They ended with freaking _fraternal twins_. Was that some kind of unknown disease running in his family or something?

The firstborn – the girl – was a little small ("Curse you, Rukia!!") with a light mob of orange locks on her head reminding of his mother's. The form and shape of her eyes looked like Ichigo's but when she opened her eyes for the first time pools of liquid violet and blue became visible.

_Ichigo had to do everything in his might to not break down crying and/or get goofy and squeely like his father was like right across the room as he held his daughter for the first time._

I'm **so** doomed,_ he thought as he imagined what he'd do to any male coming near her and not being related to her – by blood._

"_What name did you choose, Rukia?"_

_She smiled at her husband. "I thought about Rani Masaki."_

_He frowned. "Rani isn't Japanese."_

_Rukia scoffed."No shit, Einstein, it's Indian and means 'princess' or 'queen'. It fits, doesn't it?"_

_He grinned. "It does."_

He had been making plans to get a boy the next time he'd get her pregnant when Unohana-san announced that there was another baby coming.

_What the fuck?_

Ichigo had to suppress a huge grin as he saw the little baby (boy) being handed to Rukia.

He had a thick shock of pitch black hair on his tiny head and was definitely taller than the girl he was holding right now ("Curse you, Ichigo!!) and had big eyes the same shape as his mother. However, when he blinked them open and stared at his mother they were of a yellow that was almost golden in color. The hair wasn't curly like the girl's but more straight making Ichigo fear he'd come to look like his brother-in-law ("Please don't!").

"_Okay, then, what name did you pick?"_

"_Names," he corrected as he let Rani grip his right index finger with her tiny hands. "I thought of Haku Ken'ichi."_

_Rukia raised an eyebrow. "How did you come up with this?"_

"_Call it psychic but somehow I had the feeling he'd look more like you. Cue Haku seeing it means 'shadow on the moon's surface'. And since I'm good with swords and my name having 'ichi' in it I thought of Ken'ichi. Got something against that, Ms. India?"_

_She smiled. "Nope."_

~*~

_Ichigo and a 13 years-old Rani Masaki were once again having one of their (noisy) fights, currently throwing pillows at each other in the Living room whilst Haku was sitting on the couch, drawing._

"_I want that damn manga!!"_

"_And I'm saying you had already too much of those crappy shojo mangas this month!!"_

_Once again pillows were flying everywhere – one hitting an unfortunate Haku. Due to the impact his hand holding the pencil drew a straight line through his sketch._

_It suddenly became eerily silent as he slowly turned his head towards his father and twin sister. "You guys just ruined my drawing of the Senzaikyu I was working on for the past week..." His voice was dangerously low reminding of his favorite (and only) uncle._

_Ichigo and Rani were running from the living room quicker than the eye could follow before Haku's wrath could hit them._

He spends too much time with Byakuya, _thought Ichigo whilst quickening his pace._

_Back in the living room, Haku was taking a new piece of paper and ripping the nearly exact drawing of the white tower to pieces._

_Well, for being related to Rukia his drawings were actually worth being shown in the Louvre, who would've thought._

~*~

"_Seriously, Rani, stop conversing with Yôki-san* in public. Do it in private like I'm doing with Yatanokagami-sempai*."_

_His sister pouted. "But I don't want to!!"_

_He sighed. His sister was so... **childish**._

~*~

"_Daddy, I want a pet."_

_He didn't look up from his book as he answered. "No."_

_Quite suddenly he found his book yanked out of his grasp and his little princess on his lap smiling up at him with a smile that meant immediate doom for him. "Pwease?"_

_He sighed. "Let's go to the gate..."_

~*~

_Rukia looked at her son's latest drawing, pouting. "Where are the bunnies?"_

_He sighed in a manner reminding her of her stiff brother. "Mom, bunnies are childish."_

_Her left eye twitched and she let out a snarl. "What was that...?"_

_He didn't see it coming._

"What did I tell you?" Ichigo asked whilst pressing a pack of ice against his son's blue eye.

"Don't insult the almighty bunnies."

"Because?"

Haku's face contorted into a grimace. "Because bunnies will one day rule the world."

"And?" Ichigo wasn't letting him go.

"And because Mom is their demonic queen of doom."

"Right."

~*~

_Ichigo watched in mild horror as his son absorbed every word about nobility Byakuya had to say._

Why, oh **why**, is he so much like this stuck up bastard? What have I done to deserve this?

~*~

"_So you're a Shinigami-daikô, Auntie Karin?"_

_The black-haired woman smiled proudly. "Yup."_

"_So, basically, you're a wannabe Shinigami?"_

"_WHAT!!"_

Rani was lying on her stomach on her huge, queen-sized bed reading one of her countless shojo manga when her dad came into her room. "Want to play some soccer?"

The next he knew was a gust of wind passing him and his daughter screaming "What is taking you so long, Daddy?" from the garden.

~*~

"_Oi, Haku, dinner's ready."_

_The black-haired boy waved his father off not lifting his gaze from his newest drawing. "Yeah, yeah, let a servant bring me some to my room."_

"_Aunt Yuzu will be hurt you didn't even go down to eat dinner with the family, especially seeing she made it tod-"_

_Once again a gust of wind passed him as his son ran towards his only obsession besides drawing – Yuzu's cooking._

Ichigo loved it when Yuzu was cooking for them.

It was the only time his son didn't look bored like hell and got a huge smile on his face, looking like a Disney character on crack.

_At least he looks like me **sometimes**_.

~*~

A 15-year-old Rani was blushing as she talked to one Hitsugaya Hyô, shuffling her feet in mild embarrassment.

The conversation was rudely interrupted as one Kurosaki Haku came up behind his sister, glaring down at the teenage replica of his father. "Who do you think you are talking to my sister, punk?"

The white-haired boy gulped, his turquoise-colored eyes already spotting Kurosaki Ichigo approaching, bid Rani a quick farewell and hightailed from there.

"HAKU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Her violet eyes flashed yellow with black sclera before she drew her sword and chased after her brother, wanting revenge for frightening her crush.

_Ichigo sighed as he hugged Rukia towards him, her back pressing against his chest as they sat under a cherry tree in their garden, looking at the moon. "I don't like Rani hanging around with Tôshirô's kid."_

"_You're a father, that's normal. Personally, I think it's kinda cute."_

"_You're a mother, that's typical."_

~*~

As Ichigo looked at his wife's sleeping face he can't help but think about how peaceful things had been for the past years.

_The only question's how long this'll last..._

~*~

Okay, somehow it's a... bleh-ending, I know...

But don't fret, I **will** try to make a sequel but atm I don't have an idea for the plot. Maybe someday I will and when that time comes you'll be greeted with a continuation xD Otherwise... everything's up to your imagination, ne?

I didn't think of their appearances and characters, those kudos go to Aizen-sama1977. I only gave them their names XD

*Haku is referring to their Zanpakutô albeit both not knowing what exactly they are, they know their names nonetheless.  
'Kage no Yôki' is Rani's sword (beautiful, sinister princess of shadows)  
'Yatanokagami' is Haku's Zanpakutô (imperial mirror)

reikai – realm of death

~*~

**I'm doing this for the first time but, meh, I think this is cool.**

Well, so, this story is at its end and I'll now list everyone who left a Review during this story.

**Date: **_24__th__ of April, 2010_

**Total Count of Reviews: **_100_

**Martyna1**

**bcsaturdai**

**Aizen-sama1977** – _Thank you a bunch for sticking with me during the story and helping me^^!_

**Shloki**

**thmarth**

**Eradona**

**GhibliGirl91** – _I loved your Reviews, they always made me smile so much XD_

**Tamabonotchi**

**Javane** – _Thank you for Reviewing so much^^_

**smooshedpumpkins**

**Mimi-ride-nationwide** – _I always lolled at your Reviews, thanks a bunch XD_

**DraGooNia**

**BioHazard82**

**PiebsXD** – _So, hier hast du noch etwas HitsuHina gekriegt XD Zufrieden?_

**BadyGuz**

**mipku**

**haeye**

**Allyieh - ** _You're definitely one of my favorite Reviewer XD_

**star133**

**romancejunkie** – _I really enjoyed our conversations^^_

**Hekka**

**Konoha's White Fang**

**xwhitemoonx ** – _Are you dead or something? Haven't heard from you in ages o.O_

**PikaDigi** – _You changed your ID?_

**Hichigo Kurosaki**

**hitsugayatoshirou1220 – **_Thanks for kicking my ass in gear^^"_

**animelover1993**

**PaperBagGhost**

**Elizabeth Hawkeye Mustang**

**Thunder Claw03**

**Tango Dancer**

**An Origami Fish** – _I seriously loved your Review XD_

**Azraelean**

**Persistence – **_You definitely are one of my best friends out there, girl, love ya XD_

**HikariNoTenshi-San**

**bleach number 1 fan**

**Silver Stella**

**Hese Solstis – **_Love and Greetings ^.-_

**rukia kuchiki fan**

**blackteaplease** – _Schön mal Deutsche hier zu treffen XD_

Okay, despite my several personal thanks I, of course, want to thank all of you guys who took the time to Review, they're highly appreciated. I love every single one of you guys!!

And of course I love those adding this to their Favorite Story Lists and their Story Alerts. As well as those putting me on Alert or adding me to their Favorites because you like my writing^^


	12. IMPORTANT NOTE!

SO! I finally started the revision for Family Duties! The first chapter will be up in a few, and I will delete this version after the other is finished! I hope it will be just as much a success as the old one^^

Sincerely, Black Sun~


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